Detonation
by FromCaliToJersey
Summary: It has been 7 years since Draco and Isabella Malfoy were wed and blessed with 3 children. Their lives have been nothing but peaceful until now. There are forces that seek to destroy them. Forces of darkness to which they never could have imagined. A past lover, a tenacious wizard and a dead man join forces to end the Malfoy clan. Can Draco save them? Or is all hope lost? SEQUEL
1. Mishap In The Study

_Welcome to the first chapter of the second part of our Time Bomb Trilogy! If you haven't read the first part, we highly suggest you read it, or else this story will be slightly confusing. _

_To avoid any confusion, the first part of this story is actually the ending. We hope you enjoy the continuation, and if you do, leave us a review and tell us!_

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

Draco put his quill down, glancing over at the clock on the wall. He let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes. It was almost nine o' clock. He was supposed to be home over three hours ago. He knew Izzy would be pissed. But with everything going on at home, he wasn't able to get any work done.

He grabbed his bag off the floor and stuffed some papers away, carrying some others in his hand. He still had more to do, but he couldn't sleep here. He stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder, heading for the elevator, flipping through some of the papers he was carrying in his hand as he waited for the door to open. When it finally did, he stepped inside, failing to even noticing the person standing in the corner. His lips moved subconsciously as he read, the elevator moving forward, taking him towards the exit.

The elevator bell dinged and the doors opened; he stepped outside, the other man perking his head up as Draco exited, his eyes following his every move while his back was turned.

"Excuse me sir?" Draco turned, a brow pursed in pure curiosity as the same man with whom he had shared an elevator ride was now standing behind him outside. "Would you mind helping me with something?" The young man asked, tripping his hat slightly towards Draco, as he passed him by.

Draco looked up slightly. "Oh, sure." He stared at the man, not able to see him fully.

"You see. I'm looking for someone. Perhaps you have seen him?" The man's face was hidden behind his hat, as only his tanned skin showed from his exposed wrists.

Draco reached for his bag, putting his papers in his hands away and taking a couple more steps closer to the strange man, feeling confident with his wand secured tightly in his cloak. "Do you have a picture or something I can look at?" Draco asked as he put his hands in his cloak pocket.

"Yes, actually I do." He pulled his head up, a sneer ridden across his clean shaven face. This boy was young, in his early twenties and scrawny by the looks of him. "And you match his description perfectly." Before Draco could come to sense of what was going on; a group of men circled them, all wearing shoddy clothing and ridden with the same devilish smirk that the first man had laced upon his face. "I'd think it best if you just come quietly. We wouldn't want to have any trouble on your part." The leader spoke out, the brown in his eyes glimmering in the moonlight. "Or you can take your chances and have this go out the hard way?"

Out of instinct, Draco yanked his wand from his cloak, keeping it pointed in front of him. His mouth opened slightly, glancing around at the men suddenly surrounding him, turning to the man he had addressed to begin with, staring at him with wide eyes. "I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, but if I were you, I'd leave. Right now."

Draco could feel his pulse rise.

"Now, that wouldn't be very polite would it? Having we just met and all." The gentleman laughed, twirling a silver pocket watch in his hands. "What to do you say, boys? Up for a game?" The men around him, all muscular and tall, closed the circle around Draco. One in particular; the tallest one, began cracking his knuckles in his palm. "Grab him." The mysterious man with the fedora ordered.

Draco gulped, and knew he would have no chance against them. Whatever they wanted, he knew it wouldn't be good. He needed to run. Most of them were big and bulky, stronger than him, but not faster. He threw a spell behind him, knocking a couple of the men to the ground, trying to duck under some of the others as they reached for him and get away. But he was no match for them. They had his wand from him in seconds, and his arms held tightly at his sides.

"Let me go! What do you want!?"

"Oh, it's not what _we_ want-" He smirked, as a sudden hard, blow to Draco's head sent him unconscious, and limp in the arms of the men who had him trapped. "-It's what our boss wants you for." He chuckled with a sneer. Three men quickly taking Draco and disappearing in a black getaway van; while the rest all scattered and disappeared in another vehicle, following the van, and burning rubber on the streets as they all hit the gas and sped into the darkness.

* * *

Slowly, Draco's eyes blinked opened. He let out a small groan, he head pounding. Everything was fuzzy for a few seconds, and he tried pulled his arm up to rub his eyes, but found he couldn't. He blinked, clearing his vision, glancing down at his body. He quickly discovered he was tied to a wooden chair. He yanked at the restraints, trying to free himself, but soon gave up, knowing he wouldn't be able to get free. Upon further investigation, he discovered that not only was he in only his boxer, but his torso and legs were tied up as well. Finally he brought his head up, looking around. A bright, white light shined down on him, forcing him to narrow his eyes. He couldn't see anybody, but he figured that was the point. Other than the chair, the room was blank, only one window, covered by a black sheet.

"Enjoying ourselves are we?" A voice shot up from darkness, coming from the other end of the room. "Oh, don't try and fight your way out of those ropes. We've secured them. Or I should say I have. You see their locked with a spell that only I know of. So its quite stupid of you to continue, really."

Draco knew that voice. But he couldn't quite place it, especially with the light shining in his eyes. He wanted to just ignore it, but whoever it was, would be the reason he was here. It was then that he remembered he was an animagus, and could easily turn into a dragon. He closed his eyes, trying to transform, but... nothing. His heart was suddenly racing against his chest. With his wand and his animagus gone, he had no more defenses. "W-What have you done to me? What do you want?"

"You know what I want, Malfoy." The voice insisted, coming closer but keeping to the shadows.

"I can't even fucking see you." Draco snapped, his fear turning to anger. "How am I supposed to know what you want if I don't even know who you are, asshole. Let me go!" He tried fighting out of the restraints again.

_SMACK_

A hand landed across the side of Draco's face, almost snapping his jaw out of place and filling his mouth with blood. "Oh, Malfoy. You really don't get it do you? This goes more than just hating you." He laughed, "Yes, I did this because frankly your wife is one hot piece of ass that I plan to make mine. But there's so much more than that." His attacker leaned up against the table, and crossed his arms. "And seeing as you're going to die-I might as well tell you what we plan to do."

Draco glared back at his coward of an attacker, and with the blood still building in his mouth from the hard slap he took only moments ago, he pulled himself forward in his chair, spitting blood all over the top part of his face. "Fuck you!"

"How dare you?!" One of the henchmen yelled out, as he came out from the corner of the room.

Once again, his attacker raised his hand, stopping the man from coming any closer; using his free hand and wiping the blood from his face. "Don't!-HE deserves to deal with Draco himself. It was part of the deal. We just get to have a little fun with Malfoy before we hand him over so he can finish him off." He laughed. "I have to say though-I feel I got the better end of the deal, in my opinion." The attacker finally came into the light, and Draco found his eyes growing even wider. Dean Anderson.

"You won't get away with this!" Draco spat. He knew know that he probably would die. But he wasn't going to just lay down and take it. He would fight the best he could. "You'll go to Azkaban! You all will!"

"How are they going to find out? No one is going to believe the word of a dead man."

Draco found tears almost coming to his eyes. "Izzy. She'll know. She'll know it was you!" The thought of his family came to his mind, and as he closed his eyes, a tear fell from them. He would never see them again...

"I doubt that she will. You have a habit of 'disappearing' at work." He sighed, "I am going to do you a kindness before I leave."

"Please..." He hated himself for begging. But he was selfish. He wanted to see his family. He didn't want to die. "Please don't do this. Please."

"Relax Draco." He said calmly, taking the dagger in his hands and running his finger against the spine of the blade, and standing directly in front of him, eyeing his sleeve and slipping the blade inside his shirt sleeve, ripping the fabric with one swift pull. "This will only hurt for a little while."

"No. Stop. W-what are you doing?!" Draco felt his blood run cold as he watched him eyeing up his dark mark, the tip of his blade running along it, outlining it, not yet drawing blood. He tried with everything in him to pull his arm from the rope, but it only tired him out and brought more tears to his eyes.

"Don't squirm. You'll only make it worse." He held the tip of the blade to Draco's skin and with light pressure, drew blood, staining Draco's pale skin ruby red, as it slowly started to drip down his arm.

Draco told himself he wasn't going to scream, wasn't going to give that bastard the satisfaction. But the second the knife passed through his skin, and he saw the blood, he screamed. He thrashed about, trying to get away, his cries echoing through the room. He didn't deserve this. After everything he had survived when he was a teen, this would be how he would die. Not at the hands of Voldemort or his angry, prejudice father, but tied to a chair in nothing but his boxers by the hands of a jealous prick.

"How does it feel to finally lose the one thing you despise the most?!" He asked, sneering as he dug the weapon deeper into Draco's arm, practically carving into him as more blood continued to drip, soaking into his clothing. Pulling away for a moment, only to look at his work and laughed evilly. "Is the pain worth it? Is the pain worth it Draco?!"

"Stop! Please!" Tears soaked Draco's face as he screamed at the array of men. He hated him more and more with every second.

_What kind of person would do this to someone_?

"If you're going to kill me just kill me!" If he had thought getting the dark mark hurt, this was nothing compared to that.

"I'm helping you Draco. Aren't you thankful? You've said this mark was the biggest mistake of your life." Draco felt his arm being healed, the wound closing for a brief moment, only find the knife being sunk in once more, torturing him to no end, grinning and watching Draco's body writhe in pain. His screams continuing to echo as his flesh was torn into like a hacksaw to a tree limb.

"Stop him! Someone!" Draco turned to the others in the room, still screaming, trying his best to break free, even tip the chair over, anything to stop the pain. With Draco's cries, the knife dug in more, causing Draco to scream out even louder. He prayed that someone would hear him outside. Even a muggle. Anybody to stop them from prolonging this torture.

The henchmen all looked on, with their arms crossed over their chests; like soldiers all awaiting their next mission. Pleas were futile, it was as if they were all deaf and completely inhuman, showing no emotion. The snake on Draco's arm now hidden by blood; it looked like something out of a horror film. Draco was truly in a living hell.

"Malfoy, no one is going to hear you. We're far away from any souls who might happen to hear you ask for assistance." The knife was quickly pulled away, now held to Draco's throat; this time leaving his wound open, the teeth of the blade, right under his pulse. "How does it feel to sink that low, Malfoy? To beg for mercy like the dog you are?"

Draco tilted his head to the side, trying to pull away from the knife. He let out a sob, breathing heavily through his nose, tears still falling from his eyes. He blinked his eyes, feeling his head getting heavy, the room in front of him fuzzy. He was starting to pass out from the blood pouring from his arm, and he was trying desperately to hang on. If he passed out again, he may never wake up. "Just-Just stop. You want me dead, then do it. Don't torture me like a coward."

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?" He smirked, and backed away, setting the knife down on the table, and healing his wound; which was now scarred and raw. "But-As much as I'd _like_ to kill you-I left that pleasure to someone else. Someone who will take joy in it, seeing as he is entitled to it; after all the crap you put him through."

"What are you talking about?" Draco found his courage slowly coming back at seeing the assailant back away. "I haven't put anybody through crap. If anybodys putting anybody thought anything, it's you!"

"Oh, really? 10 years ago? Doesn't that ring a bell?" Draco stared at him, trying his hardest to think about what he was talking about. He honestly could think of no one. He was an asshole to everyone. There could be any number of people he had treated like shit. Instead of answering the question, playing along with his games, he just glared at him, cheeks still stained with tears. "No one you can remember?" He asked, staring over at Draco. "Perhaps you need a visual aide?" He watched him turn over to the one of the men standing at the back wall. "Tell _him_ that our guest is ready to see him."

The man nodded and left the room, quickly.

He saw a flask being pulled out from his pocket and started approaching Draco again. Draco flinched back as he reached his hand for his hair, gripping a chunk. He yanked, and Draco cried out as Anderson removed his hair, then placed it inside the flask, watching as the liquid bubbled and turned a bright shade of silver. "I should be getting ready. Your wife will be worried sick about you."

"Don't you dare! You stay away from her! Do you hear me!?" His arm was still throbbing, but with the threat of his family in danger, it quickly disappeared. "You better hope like hell they kill me, because if they don't, you'll be in this chair instead! I wonder how you'll like your eyes being cut out of their sockets!" His hands were gripping the chair tightly.

"Typical Malfoy. All threat and no danger." The voice that just came into the room was familiar. But he couldn't place just exactly who it was. "Now, had he actually managed to get loose and kill you -I'd be surprised myself. The Malfoy _I_ knew was too afraid of his own shadow to even leave 'daddy's' side."

Anderson chuckled. "And besides Draco, if I were dead, how would I enjoy sleeping with your wife?"

The man came into the light; he was dressed nicely in a clean suit and had a light beard. He smiled at Draco, removing his jacket and handing it over to the 'soldier' who was waiting on him. "Still don't recognize me, Draco?" He asked.

Draco's blood ran colder, his body sinking into the chair and all hope of his survival going out the window from whence it came. "You?" He nearly whispered. "You're the one who's behind all this?"

"Expecting Dumbledore?"

"But," Draco shook his head. "You're supposed to be dead."

* * *

EIGHT MONTHS EARLIER

"We shouldn't be in here. Dad is going to get mad."

"Relax, would you? No one's even in here. You're such a goody-two shoes."

"No, I'm not! It's _you_ who's always getting me into trouble, Scorpius! I always get the blame and I'm tired of it!" Scorpius rolled his eyes, and ignored his brother as the two sneaked into their father's study and went through his paperwork, pulling out files and papers from their cabinets. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Remember the scooter mum gave me for my birthday? The one with the dragons along the sides and handles?"

"Yeah...?" Tyler replied, raising his eyebrow and giving his brother a questioning look. "But why would it be in there?"

Scorpius didn't look up, and kept his hands and face down, continuing his search. "Dad might have shrunk it and hid it in here." He turned and looked at his twin brother. "Duh!" He snapped before going back to his search.

A high voice piped up from the doorway. "Daddy's going to be mad that you two are in here."

"Sophia, shut the hell up! I don't give a crap if we're making the mess. Get out and bother someone else."

"I'm telling Daddy you said a bad word, Scorpius!"

Tyler glanced over at his five year old sister. Her curly hair matching her mothers, the only difference was the color. It was the same shade as Scorpius' platinum blonde locks, yet her attitude and personality definitely came from Isabella's side of the family. All Toretto in a tiny package. What could be worse?

"Why don't you go play with Roxy, Sophia? I bet she'd like a little fetch out in the garden." He suggested kindly, smiling up at her.

Sophia frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at her brothers with her bright grey blue eyes.

"No." She said stubbornly. "You just want to kick me out. And I'm telling mummy."

"No, no, no, please Sophia!" Tyler begged, looking back at his brother nervously. "You can stay it's okay."

"Tyler!" Scorpius yelled, turning around and snapping at his twin. "You always invite her along!"

"Did you want her to tell mum?" He snapped back. "Let's just look for this stupid scooter and get out of here." He mumbled under his breath, now helping Scorpius as Sophia watched from behind them, smirking.

"I know where it is." Sophia pranced around and sat in her father's office chair, looking over at them while they continued their search. "I saw Daddy put it away, but I'm not telling."

Scorpius stormed over to the chair across the room. "You better tell or you're gonna get it."

"No."

"Sophia!"

She opened her mouth and shouted, "Mummy!"

"Scorpius stop it. She's going to get us caught."

"Mummy!" Sophia continued to yell, kicking her brother in the chest to try and get him to leave her alone.

"What are you three doing in here?" Draco turned the corner and walked into the room, coming to a halt and freezing at what he saw. "What in the hell is going on!?" Draco yelled, walking into the room and grabbing Scorpius, separating him from Sophia. "What is this mess!? What are you doing to your sister?!"

"Daddy, he was mean to me." Sophia whimpered, weeping crocodile tears. "I tried to tell them that they should leave because they weren't allowed. And then Scorpius hurt me." She raised her tiny arm, while the other hand wiped away her tears. "Look, Daddy. It hurts."

Tyler only glared at her for knowing that she was faking the whole thing. She was always doing this, getting their father to take her side, whatever the situation. He swore he spoiled her way too much.

"Cry baby." Tyler muttered under his breath.

"Dad, she's lying. I didn't do anything!" Scorpius yelled.

"Be quiet, Scorpius!" Draco yelled, picking Sophia up from the chair and holding her on his hip.

"Let me see your arm, sweetie." He asked kindly, voice soft, looking at her arms as she extended it towards him. He studied it, then turned and glared at his sons. "I can't believe you two! What were you even doing in here? Look at the mess you made!"

Scorpius and Tyler rambled over each other, giving each their side of the story. While Draco had his attention towards the boys, Sophia could be seen smirking, looking very proud of her accomplishment at getting the boys into trouble.

A loud howl broke the boys bickering and they soon stopped. A black wolf was glaring at the small crowd with disapproval from the doorway.

The boys stopped talking, their eyes now on their mother in her animagus form. "Sorry, mummy." They said in unison, Tyler staring back at her with sad eyes, upset at having being caught at something he wasn't even responsible for, while Scorpius glared at his sister, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You boys are just lucky it wasn't _me _who phased." Draco snapped. "Now, go to your rooms. Both of you. And if I hear one thing coming from them other than the page of a book turning, you'll go without dinner. Understood?"

"Yes, dad." Tyler said, now staring at the ground, sulking.

Isabella continued to stare at her daughter as Draco placed her back down on her feet.

"I didn't do anything." Sophia met Draco's eyes, sadly. "Daddy, I didn't do it. I'm good Daddy."

Izzy growled, her nostrils flaring as she trotted over to Sophia, looking into her eyes with that same wolf stare that brought shivers up one's spine.

"Yes, mummy." Sophia sighed as she left the room and went into the hall.

Upon hearing the doors close, the wolf phased into her human form once more. "What the hell happened in here? And why were the kids digging through your things? It looks like a hurricane hit."

"Who the hell knows." Draco sighed, pulling his wand out of his pocket and waving it in the air, his papers flying up and landing back on his desk. "I had all these organized perfectly!" He yelled, walking over to his desk and picking some up, looking through them. "Every case I was working on, all the evidence. I swear if it wasn't illegal, they wouldn't be eating for a week." He threw the papers back on the desk, knowing it was useless and letting out a sigh, putting his hands in his Auror robe pockets. "I shouldn't have come home early." He mumbled.

"Charm the door next time, so they can't open it." Isabella suggested, watching as the papers were placed back on the table, unorganized but off the floor now. "You know they're a crafty threesome, especially the twins. Haven't you taken notice yet?"

"Scorpius and Tyler, yes. But not Sophia, she just gets caught up in it all." He ran a hand through his hair, falling down into his desk chair. "They're going to be the death of me, I swear." He said, looking up at his wife.

"They're all to blame. Sophia wasn't supposed to be in her either. She deserves to be punished just as much as the boys, don't let her off easy just because she's a girl." Her eyes smiled as she went over to him, sitting on his desk and facing him. "You've hardly been home this week Draco. You need some relaxation. Come on, forget work for a little bit."

He smiled at her, his hands finding her legs and grabbing onto them, scooting himself closer to her. "I love you." He leaned up and kissed her, but fell back into his chair. "It's been eight years and still there's Death Eaters out there on the run. Hermione and I are so close to figuring out where they are, but for whatever reason, we can't seem to locate their hideout." He sighed.

"That's all that I hear from you from you lately. Work. Work. Work. There's more to life than working yourself to death, _Malfoy_." Isabella let out a groan of frustration, jumping off the desk and heading for the door. "I swear I'm going mad in this house! I'm surrounded by a bunch of bloody lunatics!"

Draco smirked at her. "Isabella, my darling are you sexually frustrated?" He stood up from his chair, making to follow after her, turning his head in the hallway to make sure all the kids doors were shut tight.

"What do you think Draco? The most action I've had in weeks is a simple hello from you when you walk in the door." She headed to the kitchen of their manor, where a tiny house elf by the name of Squeaks, a name that had been dubbed to her by the children, stood on her stool, cleaning the dishes from the kids lunches.

"Does Miss want Squeaks to clean something else?" The elf asked.

"No, dear. You can head to your quarters for the night. I'll take care of these."

"I can clean this Miss. Squeaks likes to serve the house of Malfoy."

"Go to bed pumpkin. It's alright." She went to the pantry and grabbed a few sweets, handing them over to the elf. "Here, now go off to bed with you."

"Yes, Miss." The elf bowed, "Good night, Master Malfoy." She added before departing from the kitchen and to the small room she called her own near the hallway.

Draco walked up behind Isabella, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at the back of her head as she cleaned the dishes. "Izzy, I'm sorry, alright? I've been busy. It's a tough job." He said, determined to defend himself. "It's not that I don't want to be here. Why do you think I came home early?"

"Because you're full of shit. Or the ministry kicked you out for living there too long. And don't use that _not wanting to be here_ excuse. Harry makes plenty of time to be home with Ginny and James, and he has hell of a lot more work than you do."

Draco rolled his eyes, sitting down at the kitchen island, picking up The Daily Prophet from that morning and flipping through it. "Of course he can, he's bloody Harry Potter." He looked back up at Izzy. "What do you want from me then, Isabella? Want me to take tomorrow off? Spend it with you and the kids?"

Isabella slammed the paper on the table. "I want you to forget about work all together for one bloody day! What happened to those days where we did nothing but _sleep_? What about that?" She glared at him with steam looking ready to expel from her ears. "Are you _broken_ or something? Is that it?"

"Broken?" Draco asked, shaking his head at her. "What in the bloody hell are you talking about? I just offered to take the day off tomorrow and spend it with you and the kids and here you are yelling at me for not doing exactly what I just offered!" He stood up from the chair he was in, grabbing the paper off the table and holding it in his hand for no other reason than to spite Izzy for slamming it on the table. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a Malfoy and an Auror?! The past still remains in people's eyes, and although they know I'm nothing like my father, they still see him in me! I have to work twice as hard as Potter simply because of that!" He yelled, pointing the now rolled up newspaper in his fist at her.

"Daddy's broken?" Sophia whispered to her brothers as they crept around the end of the hallway, out of earshot and sight.

"Shh. Dad's not broken. They're fighting about Uncle Harry." Scorpius explained, holding his hand to his sister to quiet her. "I got a sickle that mum beats dad in the argument." He smirked over at Tyler.

"I'm not going to bet on Dad, he's gonna lose. Mum always wins."

"Daddy's going to hear us."

"Quiet Sophia." Tyler urged, covering her mouth gently. "Or dad's gonna get mad at you."

Isabella groaned loudly, raising her arms in defeat, and dropping a plate in the sink, watching as it broke into pieces and not giving a care in the world about the mess. "You know what, forget it Malfoy. You and your little 'friend' have fun tonight on your own! That's all you're going to get from now on!"

"Oh, that's rich, Isabella, really rich." He walked over to the sink, picking up the pieces with his hands and examining them. "This plate belonged to my grandmother by the way, so I hope you're happy now that you broke it." He shook his head at her. "Since we're having this pointless argument about things you couldn't even begin to understand seeing as you don't even listen to me when I _do_ talk about work, why don't you get whatever else it is, off your chest? That way when I'm sleeping on the couch tonight, I'll have something to ponder."

"I'll give _you_ something to think about." She warned, turning around to face him. "You want to sleep on the couch tonight? Fine. Sleep on the couch, and while you're at it feel free to watch the kids. You _do_ have children, along with a wife that needs you here. Three brats if you forgot that too. But you seem to be so caught up with other people's problems to realize your own." Isabella slammed into his shoulder, cursing in Italian and went out the back door, slamming it behind her.

Draco let out a groan of frustration, taking the pieces in his hand and slamming them back into the sink.

"Mummy thinks we're brats?" Sophia asked, looking at her two brothers.

"Well, two out of the three of us are brats." Tyler mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that." Scorpius said, glaring back at his brother.

Draco sighed, looking around at the kitchen, his stomach growling as he did so. Since his wife wasn't going to be cooking dinner, he might as well make an attempt at it. At least then she couldn't say he didn't take care of the kids. He walked over towards the stairs, walking up and stopping at the fifth step from the top. He shook his head at seeing the kids there, kneeling on the ground, listening in on his and Izzy's fight. "Please tell me you three weren't eavesdropping?"

They all jumped and slowly turned around at the sound of their father's voice coming up from behind them. All muttering under their breath, "Uh oh."

"I told you, you were being too loud Sophia." Tyler rolled his eyes, and scowled at the two whom had gotten them caught.

"Is mummy leaving us forever Daddy? Did we do something wrong?"

"She's not leaving dummy." Scorpius turned to his father, with fear in his eyes. "Right, Dad?"

"No, she's not leaving. She just went for a walk." He sighed. "She would never abandon the three of you. Me and mummy just had a fight is all." He paused, looking at his three kids. "Are you guys hungry? How about I make something to eat for dinner tonight, huh?" He gave them a comforting smile, trying to reassure them that his and Izzy's fight really was nothing.

"Ooh, Daddy, can you make us cake like Nana makes for us? I like Nana Cissa's cake." Sophia pleaded, rushing to her father's knee, forgetting the argument with the mention of sweets. "Please, Daddy?"

"Oh give it up, Sophia. Dad's not going to make you cake just because you're whining."

Tyler merely glanced over at his bickering blond siblings. "He's right Sophia. Besides dad can't bake Nana's cake. If mum can't make it, what makes you think Dad can?" He really felt like the outcast now without his mother, stuck with a parade of blonds.

Draco couldn't help but smile at his kids. He held his hand out for Sophia to take. "Nana's cake is something special, Sophia. If me or mummy made it, then it wouldn't be Nana's cake anymore, right?" He gestured towards the two boys. "Come on, I'll let you guys pick something out of the pantry." He turned his back on the twins, still holding Sophia's hand as they walked down the stairs.

Scorpius turned to Tyler. "Think he forgot about punishing us."

"Shhh." Tyler said quickly, checking to make sure Draco hadn't heard him. "Don't remind him."

* * *

_We hoped you liked it! Please review!_


	2. A Dragon Flies Again

_Hopefully everyone had a good holiday. We're trying to be consistent with the chapters now. If you like what you've read, drop us a review. We love feedback!_

* * *

Sunlight cast on the large and barren windows giving light to the darkened room. What was thought to be Izzy sleeping beside Draco in the master bedroom, was a group of children all piled up in different directions, blissfully passed out: Sophia sleeping the closest to Draco, while Scorpius and Tyler were sleeping every which way. Scorp's foot resting on Draco's leg and Roxy sleeping on the end, beside Tyler. Draco's eyes fluttered open, sunlight shining into them. He looked around the bed and let out a sigh when he realized that his wife wasn't there with him. He slowly got up off the bed, gently grabbing Scorpius and dragging him over to where he had just been asleep, pulling the covers back over him as he still remained asleep. He looked over to see Roxy looking up at him. He smiled at her, leaning down and placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Stay here with them, alright?" He reached over to the blanket sitting on the back of the lounge chair in the room and placed it over Roxy and Tyler, who scooted closer to the dog for comfort. Draco smiled at his family one more time before making his way down the stairs to start up a pot of tea, having owled the Auror office to tell them he wouldn't be coming in that morning.

"Does Master Malfoy, wish Squeaks to make him some breakfast?" The elf pipped, walking to him and bowing courteously when Draco entered the kitchen. "Or perhaps Squeaks can iron Master Malfoy's clothes. Squeaks will do as Master wishes."

"Breakfast would be great, actually." Draco said, having already started the pot of tea. He walked out of the kitchen and to the window sill in the living room where he knew the owl would be waiting with The Daily Prophet. He quickly paid the winged creature and watched as he flew back out the window. Taking the paper, he returned to the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of tea and then sitting at the kitchen island as Squeaks cooked breakfast.

"Am I cooking for Mistress Malfoy as well, sir?" The elf asked, while grabbing the necessary ingredients to cook with. "Squeaks asks, so Squeaks can set the plate for her." She laid some strips of bacon on the hot stove and went to begin beating the eggs for the children's breakfasts.

"No, it's fine." Draco said, not taking his eyes off the paper. "If she comes home she can just have mine." He glanced up at the door, then back at the paper. "Who the hell knows where she is." He mumbled under his breath, letting out a sigh.

"Very well sir." The tiny creature took the strips of bacon and set them on a plate, pouring the eggs into the pan and scrambled them. Potatoes, sausage and pancakes were also cooked and brought over to the table. The loaf of bread was cut into slices and toasted. The stick of butter was placed on the table, in its own tray for the toast. Fresh jam and marmalade was laid out, along with plates that Squeaks set for each person. After working on that, she brought fresh cut fruit and juice for the children. "Anything else Squeaks can do for Master Malfoy?"

"No, it's fine. I can take it from here." Draco put his paper down, taking a sip of his tea. "Thank you, Squeaks." He smiled at the elf before taking an apple slice and quickly eating it before standing up to go and get the kids and let them know that breakfast was ready.

"Draco Malfoy, what are you doing up this early?" A voice giggled coming closer as someone staggered into the kitchen. "This is my house right?"

Draco turned at the sound of his name, letting out a sigh of disbelief. It was Isabella, drunk off her arse and being as loud as can be. Holding onto the furniture, she held herself up, or tried to. She smelled of alcohol, quickly falling onto the floor and laughing like a mad person. "Jesus Christ, Isabella, it's 7 in the morning. Why in the hell are you drunk?" He walked over to her, grabbing her arms and lifting her off the floor and placing her down on the couch. "Mind telling me where you've been all night?"

"Where have _you_ been all night?" She laughed again, pointing a finger at Draco.

"Here, watching the kids. Not out at some bar getting drunk." He grabbed her hands, pulling her up off the couch. "Come on, I'm taking you to bed." He threw her over his shoulder, walking up the stairs and going into Tyler's room, not wanting the kids, who were still asleep in their bed, to see Izzy like this.

"Draco, I don't want to go to bed. I want _you_, come with me." She asked, fiddling with his hair and examining it as if it were some wonder of the world. "Have you always been this blond? Or am I colorblind?"

"Izzy, please." Draco dropped her down onto the bed, forcing her to lie down and placing the covers over her. "We can have sex later, alright? But right now the kids are about to wake up. Do you really want them to see you like this?" He gave her a half smile. "Just lay here and sober up, okay?"

"Are you withholding sex from me?" She questioned, grasping his shirt before he could leave and smiling up at him. The alcohol was reeking off of her with every word she spoke. "That's not very proper of you to deny me anything."

"Don't make me get a sleeping potion." Draco warned, prying her hands from his shirt and quickly backing away. "Get some rest. I love you, but you look like shit."

"_You_ look like shit." Isabella called from the bed, smiling at herself like an idiot.

He backed away from her, heading to the door, every intention of locking her inside in case she decided to come charging back out still in her drunken state and sighed.

"Mum's back." Tyler said from behind Draco as he just closed the door. It wasn't a question but a statement. "Good job Dad." He gave his father a pat on the side before heading into the washroom on the end of the hall. His black hair standing up on end as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

_That boy was way too smart for his own good._

Draco laughed slightly, shaking his head at his son and watching as he left. "Breakfast is ready when you're done, Tyler!" Draco yelled, walking to his and Izzy's bedroom and approaching his still two sleeping kids. "Hey, guys, wake up." He gently shook them. "Come on, breakfast is ready downstairs."

"It's early Dad." Scorpius groaned, pulling the covers over his head and slinking back into the pillow. "I'll eat later." He grumbled.

"Daddy, why are you still in your pajamas?" Sophia asked, rubbing her eyes with her tiny fists, and yawning. "Is it pajama day at work?"

"Shut up Sophia. You talk too much." Scorpius muttered.

"Hey, Scorpius, be nice to your sister." Draco snapped, pulling the covers off of his head. "And no more sleeping. It's time to wake up. Consider this your punishment for what you did to my office yesterday." He turned to Sophia, picking her up and carrying her on his hip. "Daddy took off work today to spend some time with you guys, so time to get the day started. Squeaks cooked you lot your breakfast so make sure to thank her later." He put Sophia down on the ground, giving her a pat on the back to silently tell her to go start eating. "So wake up, Scor!" Draco yelled one last time before following his daughter downstairs.

"Scorpius, get up you lazy hippogriff." Tyler ordered, walking back into the room after brushing his teeth. He went over to Roxy, bringing her downstairs with him. She was on in years now, but it didn't stop her from hanging out with Tyler was often as she did. The two were inseparable.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Scorpius yelled, annoyed by all the constant clamoring of busy bodies, disrupting his slumber. "Do none of you like sleeping?" He grumbled, scratching his head and moving down the stairs. "Mum come back yet?" He asked, taking a seat at the table.

"Didn't you hear her?" Tyler scoffed, "She was louder than Dad when he's all dragoned up." giving Roxy a strip of Bacon while she sat patiently at his feet.

"Be nice to your mother, kids." Draco said, pouring them all some orange juice. "She had a rough night. She needs her rest." He snatched a piece of bacon of Sophia's plate, smiling at her and kissing her on the top of her head before putting the juice back in the fridge. Sophia laughed as he did so, taking another one from the middle of the table to make up for the one her father had stolen.

"I still don't get why we had to get up early." Scorpius asked, filling his breakfast plate with everything except the fruit. "Mum's here, we get that. Still don't see why I can't sleep."

"Daddy, where are we going today?" Sophia spoke with a mouthful of pancakes that were drowning in syrup. "Are you and mummy taking us on an adventure?"

Tyler bit into his food neatly, taking bites of everything the table had to offer. "Close your mouth when you talk, Sophia."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Sophia spurted out, sending bits of pancake flying across the table.

"Sophia, your brother is right. Mind your manners." Draco took a seat with his kids, grabbing a piece of buttered toast and eating it. "And today, you kids are going to help clean the house." Draco smirked at his kids.

"But that's Squeaks' job!" Scorpius exclaimed, dropping his fork.

"If you want to make a mess of the house then you're going to help me clean it." He finished up his tea, taking the last sip. "You're going to go thank the elf for making your breakfast and then tell her she has the day off. That's why you're up so early."

"I'll go tell Squeaks, Daddy. I'll tell her!" Sophia volunteered, quickly bringing her fork full of food to her mouth, smearing her face full of syrup.

"Is mum going to spend the whole day in my room?" Tyler started at his father, unamused. "If I have to spend the day stuck with those two-I'm going to need earplugs to keep my sanity." He paused, then added. "And for the record, I didn't start that mess, but I'll help clean up."

"You're _all_ going to tell her together." Draco said as he stood up and walked over to the sink, placing his empty tea cup inside of it. "And don't act like that Tyler." Draco turned back to facing his children. "You lot are all going to clean together and if you're lucky you should be done before lunch time. But leave your mother alone." He said sternly. "Like I said, she's not feeling good."

"Yeah, she sounded sick." Tyler mumbled under his breath, attempting to eat his meal in peace.

"What are we going to do after, Daddy? Ooh, can we go to see Caroline and Blaise? I like it when they come over. They're fun. Please, Daddy. Please?" She lifted her plate and shoved it in Draco's face. "Look, look. I finished all my food. Even my juice Daddy."

"Good job, sweetie." Draco said, grabbing the plate from her and walking over towards the sink to put the plate away. "If you do a good job cleaning then maybe we'll go see them, alright?" He turned to Scorpius. "And you need to eat some fruit, mister. Or else."

Sophia squealed and tugged on Scorpius arm. "Come on. Finish quickly, so we can go and see them. You too, Tyler."

"Stop rushing me." The blond complained, eating slowly and shoving her away. "You're so annoying."

Tyler went to the kitchen sink and washed his plates and utensils, leaving them on the rack to dry after he was done. "Come on Scor. The quicker we finish, the sooner we can get to be done with this whole thing, and Sophia will leave you be."

"Tyler and Soph, you can go and thank Squeaky." Draco said, leaning his lower back on the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. "I want to talk to your brother, alone." Draco nodded towards the other room, excusing his daughter and son.

"Scor is in trouble." Sophia said in a sing-songy voice. "Scor is in trouble."

"Come on Sophia, let's go." He ushered his sister towards Squeaks quarters and disappearing from sight.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it." Scorpius added in quickly, moving closer to the table, food still on his plate that he was trying to finish.

"Are you going to tell me what you were looking for in my office?" Draco asked, still standing with his arms crossed, his eyes staring sternly back at his son. "I'm not an idiot, son. I know exactly what was going on in that room last night."

"All we were doing was playing around in your office. I didn't touch Sophia. She's out to get me in trouble." He pouted, crossing his arms and grumbling under his breath. "She's such a crybaby."

"You ruined weeks of paperwork that I had organized that now I'm going to have to organize all over again. If you were old enough to understand what was on the paper, I'd have you help me." He took a couple steps closer. "And your sister is not out to get you. She's five."

"Yes, she is! She's crazy! Under that cute face is an evil witch!" Scor shouted, now standing from his seat and glaring at his father. "Mum wouldn't have let Sophia off the hook so easy. She actually believes me."

"Your sister isn't getting off the hook!" Draco yelled back. "She's going to be punished and made to clean just like you and your brother. And if you don't start changing your attitude, I'm going to send you to live with your Nana. She'll straighten you out and teach you right just like she did to me when I was younger."

"Go ahead. I'm not scared of Nana. She's the best." Scorpius dared, giving his father a smug look. "You don't believe me."

It was like looking into a mirror years ago. Draco's younger self, standing before him.

Draco sighed, moving and siting down next to his son. "Scorpius, I do believe you. Why else would I be punishing all three of you if I didn't believe you?" He paused, staring at Scorpius. "But I'm tired of this attitude and the lying coming from you. And I _know_ you're lying. You're a tiny version of me in every way. I know exactly how you think."

"Whatever." He replied, leaving the table and meeting his siblings. "Oh and for the record-I'm not you. If I take after anyone, it's mum."

Tyler put his arm around his twin's shoulder, throwing him a quick smile, consoling him. "Come on, Scor. Let's clean up." The three took off to the broom cupboard, grabbing the necessary cleaning accessories. The boys taking the brooms and mops and Sophia bringing the dustpan, terry cloth and polish for the furniture.

Draco sighed, sitting back in his chair and running his hands through his hair. "Merlin, how in the hell did my mum ever manage not to kill me." He mumbled under his breath. He needed a drink and it was only eight in the morning. He grabbed the newspaper off the table, shaking his head and continuing to read it. It was then he was happy he decided to be the main provider and let Izzy stay home with the kids.

* * *

The house was quiet for a good 3 hours, the children now playing in the garden with their loyal nanny after leaving the house clean in their eyes. From within one of the rooms upstairs there was a constant banging, and Draco figured it was Izzy stumbling and bumping into things after he locked her inside Tyler's room. But when the noise stopped suddenly, it brought about a strange sense about the house. Draco walked up the stairs, pausing at Tyler's door and taking a listen. When he heard nothing, he pushed open the door and stepped inside, looking around for his wife.

"Isabella?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly and wondering what she was up to.

With a quick shove, Isabella knocked Draco to the ground as she made her daring escape, a wide grin on her face. "Snooze you lose Malfoy!" Her body was making direct contact with the walls and furniture as she sped off. It was pretty obvious she was still drunk, seeing as she fell over and picked herself up a couple times.

Draco stood up from the ground, cursing under his breath and then chasing after her. He glared at the back of her head as she laughed as he chased her, but he was faster, catching her around the waist and pulling her back right before she could make it into the kitchen. "Didn't I tell you to rest?" He asked, out of breath.

"You talked, I didn't listen." She squirmed under his hold, laughing. "Come on, let me go. Since, when are you so boring. I'm tired of being your prisoner."

"I just don't want the kids to see you like this." Draco said calmly, not yet letting her go. "If it was just the two of us here, I'd have you in a different hold." His voice was slightly seductive. "At least take some of the sober potion Blaise gave me a couple weeks ago. I think you've been drunk long enough anyway."

"_You're_ drunk." She answered, turning over to face him and touching her finger to his nose. "I-I-I-I think that we should all have a few rounds, you s'specially." Her hand went incredibly close to his waist and she slowly undid his belt. "What do you say, we both get a little drunk." She added with a smirk, played around his collar and rested her head on his shoulder, laughing to herself quietly.

Draco quickly grabbed her hand, buckling his belt back up. "The kids are right outside." He glanced out the window to make sure the three of them were still preoccupied. "I'll get a babysitter this weekend and we'll have some fun, alright?" He pulled her off of him and smiled down at her. "Please take some potion."

"Make me." Isabella giggled as Draco sat her down in a chair, she leaned over and laid down on the small spot, her legs hanging over the side. "I like this ceiling, it's pretty. We should do our house like this."

"This _is_ our house." Draco said, going through the potion cabinet. "Ah, here it is." He pulled the potion out and walked over to the sink, grabbing a glass and rinsing it out before pouring some of the contents of the bright blue potion into it. He walked over to Izzy and shoved it at her. "Drink it or else I'm locking you in our room for the rest of the day."

"No."

"Isabella, I will thrust this down your throat, I swear to Merlin." Draco glanced outside nervously. He really didn't want the kids to see Izzy like this. It would only lead to questions he didn't want to answer.

"Keep your shirt on. I'll take the bloody potion." She grumbled, taking the glass and pursing her lips at his disgusting taste. "Ugh. Blaise made this batch? Tastes like troll bogies. I can't drink this."

"Alright, fine." He walked behind her, grabbing her around her waist and throwing her over his shoulder like he had that morning. "I'll just take you back upstairs then."

"No. No. No. I'll take the potion, I'll take the potion! Bloody Hell Malfoy, you can be such a prat!" She sighed, "Put me down." He dropped her back on her feet and walked over to the table, picking up the potion and thrusting it at her for a second time. He raised his eyebrows at her, not saying a word, waiting for her to take it and be done with acting like a drunken idiot. "Don't give me that look. This is all your fault you know." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Izzy doused the bright sapphire potion until not a single drop was left, "That was horrible." And handed him the glass back. "Remind me to convince Blaise to improve the taste of this stuff."

"I'll try and remember that." Draco said, putting the glass in the sink. "And for the record, you started that argument last night." He moved over to the table, starting to clean the table of the breakfast that was still sitting on the top of it.

"Whatever." She turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "If my needs were met, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Mum!" Scorpius and Tyler yelled running as fast as their little legs could carry them. Roxy and Sophia trailing behind them. She was attacked at all sides; Scorpius being the first to reach her.

"Mummy. Mummy. Daddy made us clean the house and I ate all my breakfast this morning. And-And-And, Scor and Ty helped too. Mummy, are you here to take us for a trip somewhere? Can we go and see Blaise and Caroline, or Nana Cissa, or Nana Kat and Papa Dex? Can we Mummy? Can we?"

It took Isabella a moment to take all that Sophia had said, and quite confused turned to Draco, mouthing: "What?"

"If you guys go get cleaned up, we'll go see Blaise and Caroline." Draco smiled at his kids, walking over and peeling them from Izzy and ushering them up the stairs.

When they all rushed away, Draco smiled at Izzy and kissed her on the top of her head. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. Stay here and rest without them bothering you."

"I've rested enough, and besides, I'm curious to see how Caroline ended up." Izzy smirked to herself, following the kids upstairs to her own room to change out of her clothes from the night before.

"Ended up?" Draco asked under his breath, but shook it off, knowing it probably had something to do with some sort of drama going on around their group of friends. When the whole family had come back downstairs, they all gathered around the fireplace, Draco grabbing onto Tyler and Scorpius' hands with each one of his as Izzy picked Sophia up off the floor. "Now remember, they don't know we're coming, alright kids?"

"It's a surprise Daddy? We're surprising them? I like surprises." Sophia put her finger to her lips and smiled, "It's a secret. I'm a good secret keeper, mummy."

"I know Sweetheart. You're a very good secret keeper." With a kiss placed upon her forehead by Isabella, Sophia quieted down.

"Be good Roxy. Take care of the house." Tyler commanded to his best friend as she sat a few feet away from the fireplace with her tongue hanging out.

"Tyler, why don't you grab the floo powder." Draco directed, to which Tyler nodded, doing as he was told and grabbing a handful before passing the jar off to his mother.

Izzy grabbed a handful and threw it into the fire, stepping inside first after saying, "Zabini Residence." Tyler did the same thing after Draco's directions, and the three boys followed after the girls, landing in the Zabini Estate.

Its gardens were filled with flowers surrounding the states of Greek goddesses in a fountain. Tall white gates surrounding the home, and tall hedges in between the sides of the back of the house. The walk alone to the actual home was a few hundred feet, with pristine cobbled stones along the trail.

"It's early. Are you even sure Blaise is home? A healer's job is very demanding. You're basically on call 24/7." Isabella glanced over at her husband, now wondering if this was a good idea. "Blaise might be exhausted from the night before, or even on duty at the moment."

"Blaise has to be home, Mummy. Look it." Sophia pointed outside the window to Blaise's car that was sitting in the driveway. "It's a kitty car."

"Jaguar, Sophia. It's called a Jaguar." Tyler corrected, rolling his eyes.

Isabella muttered an _Uh oh_ under her breath.

"Blaise!" Draco yelled, walking towards the stairs. "You guys stay here." When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked up, listening for any movement. "Your best friend, his wife, and your three god children are here to pay you a visit!" He yelled, turning and glancing nervously at Izzy, hoping he wasn't interrupting anything between him and Caroline.

Light steps were approaching the entrance from inside a room and with a turn of the knob a short and slender elf appeared out of a corridor. "Master Malfoy, pleasure to see you." The tiny creature bowed. "Anything Petrie can do for you today sir?"

"Are Blaise or Caroline home?" Draco asked, smiling down at the elf. "The kids are rather anxious to see them." He turned back and smiled at his wife.

"Master Blaise and Miss Caroline are here. Miss Caroline came home this morning. Master Blaise is in the sitting room." Petrie bowed and gave him passage.

"Thank you Petrie." Draco turned to his kids. "Come on guys, go get him. He's in there." Draco smirked, pointing towards the door that was the farthest down the nearest hallway. The kids all sprinted, Sophia leading the way. She pushed the door open and ran inside, her brothers following close behind her.

"Uncle Blaise!" Sophia said as soon as she saw him, sitting in his lounge chair, glasses on his face and a book in his hand. She ran at him, jumping onto his lap. "We came to surprise you, Uncle Blaise!"

"I see Darling." Blaise placed his book and on the table beside him and gave Sophia a hug, before the twins came up and threw themselves at him.

"Uncle Blaise!" They cried, smothering him in warm embraces.

Sophia took Blaise's glasses off the bridge of his nose and placed them on her own face. "Do these make me look smart Uncle Blaise?"

"Very smart, but these are grown-up glasses. They'll ruin you're pretty face, darling." Blaise then met eyes with Draco as he came into the room without Isabella who had made up an excuse and wandered outside, unwilling to face him at the moment. "Did your wife come home last night?"

"Not till this morning..." Draco took a seat in one of the other lounge chairs in the room. "From what I hear Caroline just got home as well. How much do you want to bet they were out together?" Draco laughed slightly, shaking his head.

"You kidding, Caroline practically threw herself at me when she came home. Not that I was complaining, but let's just say she can't walk." Blaise smirked. "On the downside, she was vomiting her brains out after, so I took the day off."

"You threw Aunt Caroline and then she lost her brains?" Sophia whimpered with a quivering lip. "Why did you throw her Uncle Blaise? Can you fix her? You're a healer." She pointed to her blond curls and pulled on them.

"Oh no, darling. It's a figure of speech."

"She can have some of my brains, Uncle Blaise. Daddy says I have lots of smarts."

"She didn't really throw her brains out, sweetie." Draco corrected with a smile.

"Yeah, it's just grown up talk, Sophia." Blaise turned to the boys who were still surrounding. "And how are you two doing this morning? Are you driving your dad mad on his day off? Because you know that's what you're supposed to do, right?"

Draco frowned. "Funny, Blaise. Real funny."

"Well we were but Sophia ratted us out." Scorpius stood up and crossed his arms grumbling.

Sophia responded by sticking her tongue out at him, while Tyler didn't say anything and instead went to Blaise's bookshelf and approached his usual spot from where he grabbed many of his books. He reached out and pulled a copy of Lewis': (The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe) walking to the corner of the bookshelf and sitting on the ground, quickly losing himself in its pages.

"I found them ransacking my office, looking for something that Scorpius doesn't seem to want to reveal." Draco gave his son a coarse look. "They spent the morning cleaning the whole Manor as a punishment."

"We cleaned good." Sophia nodded proudly. "I cleaned all the tables, Uncle Blaise."

"I bet you did." Blaise smiled up at her, pinching her nose gently. "Do you want to help Petrie clean my tables too?"

Sophia thought for a moment, hitting her chin and looking up at the ceiling. "No thanks Uncle Blaise. You can help Petrie. I already helped Squeaks today."

Scorpius got up from his seat and sat on the last lounge chair, "Where's mum?" curious to where his mother had gone.

"Good question." Draco leaned forward in his chair, looking out as best as he could into the hallway. "I'll go find her. Blaise, you'll watch them?"

"Isn't that why you brought them over?" Blaise teased with a smirk.

Draco ignored him, standing up from the chair and walking out into the hallway and back into the foyer where they had flooed in in the first place. "Isabella?" Draco called, looking around for his wife. Draco looked around the house, puzzled as to where to find her. And he probably wouldn't have found her, if it weren't for a sudden rustling that had caught his attention high up in one of the trees as he took his search to the outdoors. Leaves from the sycamore fell upon his head like twinkling snowflakes, Izzy perched like a bird in one of the branches. He let out a sigh and walked over to the tree, looking up at his wife. "Isabella, what are you doing up there?" He said with a slightly amused smile.

Izzy had in fact climbed one of the taller trees that was in the backyard of the Zabini residence and used its long and curving branches as a sort of hiding place. She sighed, leaning against the tree trunk and looking up at the many green leaves swaying in the breeze; glancing down at the sound of her name being called and caught sight of that all too familiar shade of blond at the base of the Sycamore. "Nothing, just enjoying my final hours of life, before I am the means of my own demise by the hands of Blaise." Straightening herself back up, Isabella looked ahead, admiring the grounds. "What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you. Everyone's wondering where you are." He started climbing the tree himself, wanting to be near his wife. "And what are you talking about? Blaise isn't going to kill you. Why would he, anyway?"

"I stole his wife from under him, leaving a note saying: _Borrowed Caroline, we'll be back later. _Then didn't come back until early this morning. I'd be pissed off and worried if I didn't know where you were for the entire night."

Draco laughed, reaching the branch that Izzy was on and sitting on the one next to her. "Trust me, Blaise isn't pissed at you. He got laid because of your little night out. So like I said... he's not mad. If anything, he should thank you."

Isabella scoffed, shaking her head and leaning it against the tree, glancing up at the branch above her. Taking in the sun kissing her skin. "At least _someone_ got laid. Glad I could help." She shrugged.

"Oh, stop acting like that." Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Blaise and Caroline don't have three kids. It's like I said while you were stumbling around, if they weren't there I would have done you this morning on the kitchen table."

"Sure you would have." She sighed again.

"Izzy-"

"Maybe I should just borrow Blaise for a little bit. After all, he probably has a lot more stamina than you have."

"Hey, that's not funny." Draco frowned. "Look, I'm trying to make everything up to you after last night. Can you at least make an attempt as well?" He was getting angry again. Maybe it would just be better to leave the tree and go back inside.

"Don't use that tone with me. You try being stuck in that house with them all day and night. It's driving me crazy and I want out." She exclaimed, holding her head in her hands and groaning.

"Well, you see, that's the problem with having kids. You can't exactly 'want out'."

"I didn't mean want out from the kids. I meant leaving the house. I want to be alone with you. Can't Hogwarts have an early beginner's course where we can dump them all?"

Draco sighed. "It'll kill me and Potter will be pissed, but I'll take some more days off work and help you with the kids if that's what you want."

She let out a heavy sigh. "I just want a day without Sophia and Scorpius bursting in about a trivial argument."

"Alright fine, we'll go out this weekend then. I'll get a babysitter and we can go out for a night on the town. I'll take you out to one of those fancy restaurants and hell, we can even go see one of those silly muggle films." He smiled up at Izzy. "What do you say?"

"You promise there won't be anything to ruin our night? One entire night without a word of a case, or the ministry? No work whatsoever?"

"I promise." He smiled at her. "Now, can we get out of this tree now and go inside?" He climbed down a few branches, holding his hand out for Izzy to take.

"A dragon afraid of heights? I've never heard of such a thing."

Draco frowned, "I'm not afraid of heights, Toretto."

She laughed, then her tone suddenly got serious. "I have one last request before I come down."

"Oh, Merlin." Draco mumbled under his breath. _What else could she want? _"What?" He gave her a worried look, having made enough promises that would be hard to keep without having to do something else.

"Can you take me around for a ride? Like we used to when we were on the run?"

Draco laughed, smiling up at her. "Right now?" She nodded with a grin on her face. "Are you serious? What if someone sees?"

"You can glide in the trees. The forest nearby is thick as mud. No one will see you. Just for a little bit. Please?" Isabella asked, hanging from a tree branch with her feet dangling in midair.

"Alright, alright." He jumped down from his spot on the tree and transformed into his dragon form, making his back as high as possible so Izzy could slide right down on top of it.

When she was situated, he walked for a little while until they were into the woods and then took flight, weaving in and out through all the trees and going as fast as he could, being extra careful seeing as he hadn't flown in months.

She laughed out loud with glee, with every swift movement and dive Draco took. Holding onto his neck and tightening her legs around his back. The wind flowing sharply in her hair, sending it backwards. The fresh scent of the forest invigorating, heart beating against her chest madly with adrenaline.

Draco took a sharp turn and landed on the ground, turning his head and looking at Izzy. He gently brought his head towards hers, pressing it gently into her front and closing his eyes, his way of showing his affection for her even in his animagus form.

Her hands wrapped around his head and she kissed his snout, nuzzling him. "I love you so much." She whispered.

He let out a little snort before changing back into his normal self, catching Izzy in his arms and gently putting her down on the ground. He kissed her square on the lips for a few short seconds before pulling away and smiling at her. "Come on, let's go back inside. The kids are probably driving Blaise crazy."

"It's the least he could do after I helped him. Besides the kids love Blaise, its good he get a little practice in while he can."

The two headed back to the estate, hands clasped, unable to wipe the grins from their faces.


	3. Letting Loose

_This chapter has a small passage from **Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: Adventure 11-The final problem. **We in no way own that series or are attempting Copyright infringement. But if you're curious, have a go at Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the books are fascinating._

_There is also an excerpt of lyrics from Gwen Stefani's song: Rich Girl. Again, we do not own this song, nor the passage from the book._

_Drop us a review, lovely peoples._

* * *

Draco pushed open the door to his shared office, lugging his messenger bag over his shoulder. He let out a groan as he threw it on his desk, his partners head shooting up from her desk as the sound of it.

"Oh, Draco, you startled me." Hermione Weasley, _nee_ Granger, said with a small chuckle.

"Sorry." Draco said with a small laugh. "Had a rough night. Spent about 3 hours sorting through all my papers and organizing them after my kids got into them." He opened up his bag, dragging out some papers.

Hermione chuckled. "Is that why you called out yesterday?" She asked, going back to her work at the same time.

"Not exactly." Draco plopped down in his desk. "Isabella gave me some guilt trip about never being home. Was a pretty nasty fight."

Hermione sighed to herself, "Well you didn't miss much. Anderson bragged to the entire floor about winning the Blake vs. Howard case. It's was positively revolting." She looked up at him, "You should show him up and take the next case before he does."

Draco rolled his eyes, scoffing. "I can't stand that stupid prick." He cursed under his breath. "I'll have to go talk to the boss anyway. Gonna try to work a little less hours. Promised Izzy I wouldn't work as much. The kids are driving her crazy." He pulled a quill out of his desk and dipped it in his ink well, scribbling down something on a piece of paper.

"How are they all by the way? Izzy and the kids?" She picked up her head and put her work down for a minute, taking a break. Her hair looking messier than it usually did and eyes deprived of sleep.

"They're fine. You know, same as always." Draco said, glancing up at Hermione and taking in just how exhausted she looked. "How about yourself? Is everything okay?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Hermione ran a hand through her hair and glanced at the picture of Ron and herself sitting on her desk. She reached out and turned the picture face down, holding her head in her hands.

Draco put his quill down, sincerely concerned for his partner. "Well that's a lie if I've ever heard one." His voice softened suddenly. "Come on, Hermione, what's wrong? Do I have to go arrest Weaselbee?"

"Ronald and I have had nothing but constant fights and they've been getting worse over the course of the past few months. Last night, he came home drunk and we got into it. He yelled at Rosy because she accidentally spilled her juice on the carpet." She shook her head and hid it in her arms as she laid it on her desk. It sounded like she was weeping, "Things got hectic and I asked him if he was so tired of this then he should just leave."

A sniffle left Hermione, "He filed for divorce, and wants to begin the paper work."

"Oh, Hermione." Draco said sadly, standing up from his desk and walking over to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, I'm so sorry." He glanced down at her weeping with sad eyes. "Weasley doesn't deserve you anyway." He was trying to be consoling, but he was never good at that.

"I don't know where things went wrong." She lifted her head, wiping the tears from her eyes and staring at her paperwork. "Everything was going fine, great actually after You-know-who had been defeated." Her voice fell to a whisper. "How am I going to tell Rosy and Hugo that their dad is running out on them?"

"They're smart kids. They'll understand." Draco continued to run a soothing hand along her back. "And you can always count on me and Izzy to be there for you, you know that. I'll even stand there with you when you tell them in you want."

"I feel like they'll blame themselves and that's not the case at all." Hermione sniffled, "I'm so tired of all the fighting and shouting. All I want is my old life back. To be the Hermione that years ago cared more about books than a relationship. The Hermione I once was."

"I'll tell you what, why don't you bring the kids over to my house tonight? I'll watch them for you and you and Izzy can go out and have a girls night. You can forget about Weasley and just have a good time." He gave her a reassuring smile. "And I'm sure Izzy will want to invite Caroline along as well."

"I can't ask you to do that. They're my responsibility, no one else's." She regained her composure and began to file her papers once again, fumbling over some of them as she spoke. "And besides, Izzy and Caroline are like peas in a pod. I'll just be a downer on their parade. I'm not fun to be around."

"Oh, come on, Granger. I bet once you get a little firewhiskey in you, you'll brighten right up." He grabbed the papers from her hand, forcing her to pay attention to him. "I'll invite Blaise and my brother in law over. They'll help me watch the kids."

"I don't drink." Hermione insisted, snatching her work back from Draco's hands. "I read and file paperwork. Doubt that will be much of an exciting time."

Draco sighed. "I thought you wanted to be the Hermione you once were?" He crossed his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrows at her. "What better way to start than by acting the exact opposite of how you are now? Besides, how often is this opportunity going to come knocking?"

Hermione sighed, throwing Draco a smile. "What time do you want me to drop the kids off at your place?"

* * *

Draco flooed home at around 4 that afternoon, wiping the soot off of his coat and throwing his messenger bag down onto the floor where he would grab it later. He walked into the kitchen, a smile on his face, proud of the brilliant idea he had hatching in his brain and wanting to tell his wife about what had happened.

"Izzy?" He called as he walked through the doorway of the kitchen.

"We're in the library." Isabella called, as she and the children were sitting around on the ground, listening intently to the book she was reading to him. Tyler especially captivated and holding onto every word that was coming out of her mouth. Scorpius was intrigued by the chases and fight scenes while Tyler loved the detective's analytical personality.

"Keep reading mum. Watson and Holmes were just about to crack the case of who the mastermind behind everything is." Tyler's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm.

"Keep reading mum. Keep reading." Scorpius added in quickly, urging his mother to finish.

Draco made his way into the library, stopping and smiling at the sight he saw. His wife, the love of his life, sitting on the ground with two out of three of his kids sitting around her, their eyes stuck to the pages of the book with more interest then he thought was possible in seven year-old's.

Not wanting to disturb them, he took a seat in one of the lounge chairs, listening in on the story as well; one he had read himself years ago after battling a dragon.

Isabella smiled over at her two boys and continued reading after acknowledging Draco had stepped into the room.

_Are you aware, Watson, there is no one who knows the higher criminal world of London so well as I do. For years past I have continually been conscious of some power behind the malefactor, some deep organizing power which forever stands in the way of the law, and throws its shield over the wrongdoer. Again and again in cases of the most varying sorts - forgery cases, robberies, murders - I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted. For years I have endeavored to break through the veil which shrouded it, and at last the time came when I seized my thread and followed it, until it led me, after a thousand cunning windings, to ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity._

Scorpius groaned loudly, "A teacher? That's who organized all this?"

"A _professor_, Scor. But I have to admit I was not expecting that." Tyler grinned over at his brother and quickly joined in a groan as his mother closed the book. "Mum! What happens next?"

"Maybe tomorrow Tyler, I could use a break from reading and you two could use some fresh air."

The two groaned. "Oh, alright." Tyler mumbled, standing up from the floor. "Come on, Scorpius, let's go play fetch with Roxy."

"Fine." Scorpius stood up and immediately ran for the door. "But I get first throw!"

"No you don't!" Tyler yelled, running after his twin. "She likes me better anyway!"

Draco laughed, shaking his head and watching them run out of the room and down the hall towards the main stairway. "It's always a competition with boys." He mumbled.

"The only thing they agree on and seem to enjoy are these books. Tyler goes through them faster than I can count." Isabella said, placing the book back in its original spot on the bookshelf. "You seem awfully chipper. How was work?" She smiled and turned around. "Wait don't tell me-Anderson got the boot, right?"

Draco's smile fell. "Don't even get me started on Anderson." He stood up, taking his cloak off and throwing it on the chair he was previously occupying. "No, I have some news. It's pretty terrible news, but I have a way of making everything better. I'm pretty proud of myself for the plan, actually."

"Oh no. What did you do?" She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him seriously. "If this is about working more hours in order to have more vacation time, you'd better go back to your boss' office and tell him that you were obviously intoxicated when you agreed to-"

"No, listen." Draco cut her off, grabbing her hands and pulling her onto the chair, forcing her to sit. "It's about Hermione. Her and Ron, well... they're getting a divorce. She told me today. She was pretty heartbroken about it." Draco's voice had turned to sorrow as he told Izzy the news.

"Are you serious?" Isabella asked, her expression turning to that of sadness and pity. "What happened? Is Ron cheating on her with someone else?" She asked, lowering her voice in case the kids decided to overhear their conversation.

"They've fought for weeks apparently." Draco ran a hand through his hair. "He came home last night completely wasted, yelling at Rose for spilling juice on the floor, and next thing you know they're having an argument. Hermione told him that if he was so unhappy he should just leave... and now he is. She said he put in the paperwork already."

"What an asshole. I ought to give him a piece of my mind with my fist." She brought her clenched fist and slammed it into the palm of her other hand. "What's Hermione going to do in the mean time? Is she still living with Ron?"

"You can ask her tonight. I told her you and Caroline would take her out for a girl's night and that Blaise, Dom and I would watch the kids." A small smirk crossed his lips. "You know, you can take her minds off things."

"And she accepted?" Isabella scoffed, "No offense but Hermione doesn't seem like the type of girl who likes to go out. She's never gone out with us when I invited her in the past."

"Yeah, well that's because you're married to a master mind." His smirk grew even more. "Just take her out, get a couple of shots of firewhiskey into her, and I guarantee she'll loosen up."

"I'm not going to be responsible for any damages. I'm throwing the warning out early in case you decide to throw that on me later." She kissed Draco full on the lips. "I love you." And went darting into the kitchen to phone Caroline about going out tonight.

* * *

Draco bent down in front of his three kids, tone and eyes serious as he stared at them. "Alright, listen up you guys. Rosie and Hugo are coming over to play tonight. I want you all to be on your best behavior, do you understand me? Any funny business and you'll spend the night in your rooms. I mean it." He looked at Scorpius as he said this, knowing he would be the one to start trouble in the first place.

"Oh, calm down, Draco."

Draco turned his head around to see Blaise and Caroline walking through his fireplace, wiping soot from their coats.

"You make them sound like demonic children."

"Uncle Blaise! Uncle Blaise! Aunt Caroline!" They all shouted, running over to the couple and bombarding them.

"Are you going to play with us tonight, Uncle Blaise?" Sophia chirped, jumping into his arms. "We can play games and eat sweets all night long. But don't tell Daddy. He doesn't let me have sweets after 9."

"I'll go see if Izzy's ready upstairs." Caroline grinned, giving Draco a bow before leaving the room. She was wearing a fun black semi-short tight fitted strapless dress with black 3 inch open toed heels that were to die for. Her brown hair was curled and makeup was flawless.

"I heard that Sophia." Draco said, giving her a cross look, but becoming distracted as the floo network sounded off again. Draco looked over to see Hermione walking into his home, holding Rose's hand and carrying Hugo on her hip.

"Look who's here boys." Draco said, watching as Tyler and Scorpius ran over to Rose, smiles on their faces.

Hermione let out a groan as she put Hugo down on the ground to let him play too. "Draco, are you sure this is okay? I can still go home if you changed your mind."

"Oh, stop it, Granger. We got this." He smiled at her, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. "There will be three of us. We can handle five kids."

Caroline and Izzy came back downstairs at the sound of new voices echoing through the manor. Isabella was wearing a crimson red short sleeveless dress with bright heels to match. Her hair was styled straight and dogtags although unfitting for the attire, were hanging from her neck; the only accessory differentiating them from married women were the diamond rings each had on.

When the two caught sight of Granger, they looked at each other and then back to Hermione. "Are you planning to change 'Mione?" She looked like a librarian, wearing a long pencil skirt and collared white shirt.

"What's wrong with the way I look?"

"It's a bit plain for a club." Isabella said, smiling at her.

"You are in desperate need of a makeover." Caroline examined Hermione and turned to Isabella. "She looks about your size."

"I have just the thing." Isabella exclaimed, both grabbing Hermione by the arms and dragging her upstairs.

"When we're done with you, men are going to be flocking around you like moths to a flame."

"Maybe you should change too, Izzy!" Draco yelled after her. "I don't want to have to chase anybody around with bug spray." He rolled his eyes and turned to Blaise.

"Wish she would dress for me like that in private." He shook his head, watching as the kids ran off into another room.

The sound of the floo network went off one last time, and Draco turned to see Dom walking through, a smile on his face.

"Hey, look who finally showed up!" Draco walked over to him, giving him a hug and a pat on the back. "What have you been up to?"

"Same old. Same old."

"Uncle Dom!" Tyler shouted, meeting his uncle as he came out of the fireplace.

"Hey, how's my best mate?" He asked, bending low and ruffling his hair playfully. "Ready for some fun with your old uncle?"

"You're not old Uncle Dom. I'm just younger than you are."

"Well played little man. Where are your brother and sister?" He suddenly felt someone jump onto his back, growling.

"I got you, uncle Dom! Look Daddy, I caught a lion!" Sophia shouted, giggling in Dominic's ear.

"You better run because this lion likes to eat little princesses for dinner."

Sophia squealed and ran off. "You can't catch me Uncle Dom. I'm going to hide good this time."

"I'll look for you in a minute, Sophia!" Dominic turned to Blaise and Draco, greeting Blaise after Sophia had went off to play her game of hide and seek. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

Draco shrugged. "Keep them occupied I guess. I just wanted to recruit you guys because I know I'm not capable of doing it on my own." Draco smirked.

"Nice." Blaise said, shaking his head at his best mate.

"Oh, stop it. The kids will be in bed in a couple hours and then we can have some drinks and watch the Quidditch Playoff's on the telly." He glanced up at the stairs. "Just don't tell the girls, whenever they decide to come back down."

"Don't tell us what Dominic?" Isabella asked as she and Caroline came back, looking like total bombshells.

Blaise gave a loud wolf-whistle and muttered, "Damn." under his breath, staring at the girls with amazement in his eyes. "You sure you don't want to stay in tonight, Caroline?"

She rolled her eyes, "You guys ready to see the new Hermione?" Caroline smirked, at the trio of men.

"Oh, don't make this even more traumatizing then it already is." Hermione's voice came from around the corner, her eyes on the dress that was two sizes too small for her.

"Oh, come on, Granger. We're all friends here." Draco said with a grin, his eyes on Dom, waiting anxiously to see the way he reacted when he saw her. It would be the perfect test for the plan he had.

"But I look-"

"Hermione Jean Granger. Get out here!" Isabella encouraged, going back up the stairs and gently bringing her back down.

Her soft brown hair tamed and flowing down, with diamond stud earrings that shimmered in the light. The dark eye shadow causing her brown eyes to pop even more than they already were. A one shoulder dark violet dress hugging her curves and silver strapped heels wrapped around her feet. "I feel ridiculous."

"You look hot, Hermione!" Caroline exclaimed, smiling at her.

"She's right Hermione. What do you guys think? Did we do a good job?"

The three men stared at Hermione in what was shock. Caroline was right, she did look hot, but neither Draco nor Blaise was going to risk saying anything along those lines with their wives standing right in front of them.

"Mummy, you look pretty." All eyes looked over towards where the voice came from to see little Rosie staring up at her mother with a bright smile on her face.

Hermione laughed slightly, a small smile on her face. "Thank you sweetie."

"She's right, you know." Draco said, looking back up at Hermione. "You clean up nice, Granger." Draco stole a look at Dom to see him staring at Hermione with wide eyes, mouth agape. Draco recognized the look in his eyes. Lust. And it only made his smirk grow. This plan he had would go down in the history books.

"And what are we?" Isabella asked as she and Caroline crossed their arms.

"Guess we're not attractive enough for them anymore. Maybe we should find a few studs at the club, Izzy?" Caroline's bright green eyes sparked and she threw Isabella a smirk.

"Sounds good. Perhaps a few Redheads?"

"You always say that about redheads Izzy. They're not all going to be drop dead gorgeous."

"Can't blame me for trying. Think all this blond hair surrounding me is getting to my brain."

"There will be more than just blonde hair getting to your brain if you find a _few studs_ tonight, mark my words." Draco walked over to Izzy, giving her a kiss.

"You're a hot piece of ass. Is that what you want me to say, huh? Or do you prefer ravishing? Or maybe..." He turned to Blaise, snapping his fingers. "Give me another one, Zabini."

"Exquisite." Blaise said with a smirk.

"Ooh...nice one, mate." Draco said, his smirk growing more as the two boys chuckled under their breaths.

Dominic's eyes hadn't left Hermione from the moment she walked into the room. "Y-Uh." Poor bloke was speechless, and Isabella thought his mouth would literally fall to the ground.

"Daddy said ass." Sophia giggled as she stood behind Dominic and tugged on his pant leg.

This brought him out of his funk and he whispered to himself, "A hot piece of ass."

"I didn't say we were going to find Studs. Caroline did." She pointed to Caroline, smiling at her. "I just agreed with her."

"Hey. Don't point fingers at me."

Blaise's arms were wrapped around Caroline as she spoke, attempting to pry herself away for a few moments to speak while he was running his hands on her waist.

She batted him away and laughed, "Subtle much?" Her eyes wavered over to the kids who hadn't left the room.

Draco smiled at the two of them. They really were perfect for each other. "Alright, why don't you guys get out of here before the sun rises." Draco suggested, glancing back down at his wife.

They all heard Hermione moan from the stairs. "Do we really have to? I mean, couldn't we just go to a nice restaurant or something." She looked nervous, pulling at her dress as it stuck to her curves uncomfortably. "Then I can go change back."

"No!" Caroline and Isabella replied simultaneously. "You are going out with us, whether you like it or not!"

"And no way in hell are we letting you change out of that. You look hot and we're not letting you hide that from everyone." Caroline went to Hermione after escaping Blaise's grasps and locked arms with her.

"We'll be back."

"By morning."

"Make sure Rosy and Hugo get to bed by nine. And Hugo likes it when you read to him before bed. He'll need a bath later-"

"Relax, my kids haven't been killed off yet. I'm sure they'll be fine. If not, you can have one of my children." Izzy joked, giving Draco a kiss before following them.

"No bloody ginger studs, Mrs. Malfoy, I mean it!" Draco yelled after them, turning to Blaise and shaking his head. "I swear they're out of control."

Blaise only laughed. "Oh, come on. Let them have their fun. Let's get these kiddies some dinner and then send them to bed so the real party can begin." Blaise joked, walking towards the kitchen now.

Draco walked over to where Sophia was still standing by Dom and picked her up. "You hungry?" He asked, now following after Blaise.

"I want cookies!" She yelled, smiling at Draco, more spoiled then ever by her father.

"If you eat your dinner." Draco corrected. "You need the healthy stuff first." He turned around to face Dom. "Come on, Toretto, let's have a chat."

"What?" Dominic replied, shaking his head and turning to see who had called him.

"Daddy wants to give you a kitty." Sophia chirped.

"He said _Chat_, silly Sophia." Rose corrected, throwing her a smile.

Tyler rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Ignore her. She's always saying stupid stuff."

"I am not stupid!" Sophia shouted, sticking her tongue out at Tyler. "You're stupid! Stupid!"

"And a brat." He added in, crossing his arms.

"Daddy!"

"Stop arguing, you two." Draco said as they reached the kitchen, placing Sophia back down on her feet. "We have guest tonight. Do you remember what I said about behaving?" Draco threw his kids a look, and they stared back at him, heads falling slightly, not wanting to be punished. "Now, go play, _nicely_, and we'll cook dinner, alright?" The three of them ran away, laughing, heading for the stairs. Draco shook his head, turning to Dom and Blaise. "You guys should consider yourselves lucky you don't have to deal with that."

"Aw come on, Draco. You're just cranky." Blaise crossed his arms and smirked. "If I didn't know any better I'd say that you weren't getting laid."

Draco snorted, walking over to the fridge to get something to cook for dinner. "You don't know the half of it. I'm either working too much or we're arguing about me working too much. So to answer your snide comment, I'm not getting laid." He said with his back to the two of them, head now in the fridge as he searched.

"I knew it." Blaise laughed, "You always were in a bad mood after a dry spell. Poor little Malfoy. He needs some love." He walked his fingers over Draco's back, taunting him.

"What about you Dominic? Getting some action?"

"Keep me out of this."

"Aww, you not getting any action either?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I am getting action. This is when friends with benefits come in handy. I met this chick at a bar a few months ago and I've had my share of enjoyable nights." Dominic wiggled his eyebrows. "Let me add that redheads are in fact as wild as they seem. I mean there were things I've never even thought of doing that this girl has tried on-"

"Can we stop talking about the damn gingers, please? I really don't need to picture the Weasleys any more then I already have to." Draco said, grabbing some chicken out of the fridge and placing it on the counter, starting up the oven.

"And as for you," Draco turned to his brother in law, pointing a finger at him. "You're old. No offense. I think it's about time you started looking for more than just friends with benefits. I mean, friends with benefits is something I haven't had since Hogwarts."

"I may be old but I'm still getting laid." Dominic shrugged. "And I don't want to be tied down. My needs are met, why mess with perfection? Action is action, Malfoy."

And if by some insane twist of fate, Sophia came darting into the room, tugging at her father's pant leg again. "Daddy! Daddy! Can I get some action too? It sounds like fun."

Blaise hit his palm to his forehead and shook his head. "Dear god. Are you going to answer this Draco?"

Draco glanced up at Blaise, giving him an obvious look before turning back to his daughter. "Sweetheart, you're not going to have any action for years upon years upon years. And didn't I tell you go to and play? Why are you back here again?" He asked, throwing the chicken into the frying pan.

"Because Rosy and Tyler locked themselves in his room and Scorpius won't let me play with him." She pouted, "They said I couldn't come in because I was too little to understand what they were saying."

"I see your son is getting an early start on things. Though I'm not too sure, Hermione will be very happy to find out about your son's so called _advances_ on her daughter."

"They might not even be doing that. If anything they're probably reading or something. You know Tyler." Dominic said, taking a drink from his glass.

Draco couldn't help but smirk. "Well, he is a Malfoy. He has plenty of spunk in him when it comes to the ladies."

He turned back to Sophia. "Why don't you go find Hugo and play with him? Go show him all the toys you got for your birthday. Maybe Scorpius will get bored and come play with you guys too, alright." He gave his daughter a little pat on the back as she walked from the room, sulking and mumbling about not wanting to play with a baby.

When she was gone from the room, Draco turned back to his brother in law, continuing their conversation. "Anyway, Toretto, I think I might know a little bit of information that might make you change your mind about not being tied down." Draco smirked.

"Like what?" Dom drawled, examining the bottom of his glass, and swirling his drink around.

Draco rested his bum on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest and continuing to smirk at Dom. "Mr. Ronald Weasley is divorcing Hermione." He paused, watching as Dom slowly brought his eyes to Draco. "In a couple weeks, she'll be single again... free game for an older Gryffindor to move in and sweep her off her feet."

"And what do you want me to do? Go up to her and say, _Hey. I just heard that you're a recent divorcee. Want to go out with me_?" Dom scoffed. "I might be a lot of things, but I'm not a complete dick when it comes to women. And you said it yourself, I'm _old_, right? I'm like 6 years her senior." He sighed before standing up and going to the cabinets, "I need a drink."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Hermione is more mature then any of us. Mentally, she is your age too. And to answer your question, you don't have to do anything. I'm her partner, remember? I can make this happen easily. Besides, don't even deny it, you would die for a chance to be with her." Draco turned his back for a second to make sure the chicken wasn't burning, adding some spices to it. "I saw the way you were looking at her tonight." He added in.

"No one asked you." Dominic grabbed a bottle of liquor out of the cabinet and filled his glass until the very top.

"Come on, Toretto. She's hot. Why wouldn't you bang her?" Blaise stared at his glass while Dom filled it.

The older Toretto immediately glared at him and pulled the bottle away. "Say something else. I'm sure my arm could use a work out, and your face seems like a good way to start things." He looked ready to spit fire.

"Calm down, Dom." Draco said, walking over to him and snatching the bottle from his hand, pouring himself a drink. "Blaise is right. You've had the hots for Hermione for as long as I've known you. And now here's a chance knocking at your door for you to finally be with her." He took a sip of his drink. "I don't understand why you're acting this way."

"You don't get it do you? It has nothing to do with having the hots for her." Dom sighed, taking a sip of liquor from his mug. "She's not going to launch herself out there right away. I'm acting this way because I'm not a heartless jack ass. Just drop it Draco."

"Fine, whatever." Draco mumbled, taking another sip of his drink and turning back to cooking. He wasn't going to drop anything, in fact, he was going to make this happen, whether Dom liked it or not. "All I was trying to say was she could use someone like you instead of a real heartless jack ass who's going to try and snatch her up simply because she's Hermione Granger. She doesn't need that... and neither do her kids."

"Drop it." He added once more, letting his eyes wander on anything else besides the kitchen. "I'm going to go find Sophia. At least she isn't so inquisitive about everything." Dom mumbled, phasing into his animal form and searching for Sophia, letting out a roar.

"I hear you Uncle Dom! I'm going to find you!" She cried, giggling and scouring around the house, taking soft steps to keep quiet. "Uncle Dom! Where are you?"

Draco rolled his eyes and turned to Blaise. "I'm not dropping it." He said simply, grabbing some vegetables from the cabinet and pouring them into a pot.

Blaise chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. "Just don't let him murder you in the process of hooking him up behind his back."

"He's practically in love with Hermione." Draco said. "And I can't pass up an opportunity to ruin a Weasley's life." He smirked at Blaise, taking a sip from his tumbler before pulling the chicken from the pan and placing it on a plate to put in the middle of the table for everyone to eat.

"Just be careful what you put yourself in, mate. If it backfires, it will be on your arse." Blaise raised his drink towards Draco while he spoke. "At least you know he's good with kids. Your little Sophia has taken a shine to him. I mean look how they get along." He gestured over to the sitting room where the large and menacing looking lion was being climbed on and embraced by the little blond girl; as she attempted to braid his mane, a pink tiara placed on the top of his head and pearl necklaces around his neck, while he laid on the ground. "And Tyler always gets excited when he comes over."

"Yeah." Draco smiled. "Everything worked out perfectly in the end." He let out a little laugh. "Who would have thought, huh?" He placed the vegetable on the table. "Now we just have to work on getting you some kids of your own."

"I think yours are enough for both of us, to be honest. But who knows, maybe."

* * *

_All the riches baby, won't mean anything  
All the riches baby, bring what your love can bring  
All the riches baby, won't mean anything  
Don't need no other baby  
Your lovin' is better than gold and I know_

These were the words sung loudly from the trio of ladies who returned to Malfoy manor that early morning.

"That bartender was all over you 'Mione. He kept giving you free shots the entire time." Caroline sputtered, hanging over Izzy as they both supported one another.

"Yeah, you s-should 'ave got his number."

"He wasn't even that hot. I mean, he was fit sure, but not my type." Hermione added, holding her heels in her hands.

"I need my late night fix!" Caroline shouted, as she dragged Izzy into a couple of chairs.

"Shh...Quiet! You're being loud!"

"You're loud!" Isabella laughed, both hitting the wall, their legs like jelly while they walked.

"You two drank too much."

Caroline pointed at Isabella. "So did you, Granger."

"I'm over here, Care. That's Izzy."

"Nuh uh! I'd think I'd remember my best friend moving about."

Caroline and Izzy began to sing that same song once more:

_See, I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl  
No man could test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end  
Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl  
_  
"We are rich." Isabella stated, "We married...Who did we marry anyways?"

"I dunno, but they better be hot!"

Draco groaned, sitting up from the couch, his head pounding. They had definitely drunk too much. He was just thankful he remembered laying the kids down for bed before passing out on the couch. He glanced around to see Blaise and Dom also stirring, and at hearing the girls voices coming from out in the hallway, he stood up, holding his head, and walked out of the sitting room.

"Can you ladies be any louder?" He asked, shutting the door behind him and squinting into the light. "What time is it, anyway?" He mumbled.

"Whatever time before the sun comes out."

"Ooh. I like this one." Caroline commented, staggering over to Draco.

"Me too. How's we share him? I get him first!"

"No, I want him first." Caroline turned to Hermione, "Did you want to get in on this 'Mione? There's plenty to go around."

"But he's a blond. How's we dye his hair?" Hermione whipped out her wand and waved it, while contemplating her thoughts. "Maybe brown or black?"

"I think Black. To match the guy at the bar."

"Don't you dare touch my hair!" Draco snapped. "Besides, I'm already taken by this lovely lady." He grabbed onto Izzy, wrapping his arm over her shoulder. "There are two more guys in there that you two can fight over." Draco said with a smirk.

"Who's fighting over who?"

Draco glanced back around to see Blaise leaning on the doorframe; his eyes squinted into the light.

"Well you aren't very fun, Blondie." Hermione pouted, leaning on the wall in the hallway. "I thought blonds were fun?"

"Are you any good in bed?" Isabella asked, curiously. "If you are, I'm yours. If not, consider yourself dumped."

"You!" Caroline exclaimed, catching sight of the man in the hallway. "You're even better than the blond." She threw herself at Blaise. "I like your face, care to get to know each other a little better?" She replied seductively, running her hands across his shirt and smirking up at him.

Blaise smirked, grabbing Caroline bridal style and starting to head for the stairs. "We're taking the guest room, Malfoy!" He yelled as they started up the stairway.

"For Merlin's sake, please don't take the one near the kids' room!" Draco yelled back, glancing over at the doorway as Dom stepped into it, shaking his head at the group before him.

Hermione spotted Dom and gave him a smile, walking over to him ungracefully. "Hey there, stranger." She said, tripping over her own two feet. Dom caught her in his arms before she could fall to the ground.

Draco smirked at the scene before him. "Alright, you two have fun." He grabbed Izzy around the waist and threw her over his shoulder, making his way towards their bedroom.

Hermione giggled as she stood up properly, running her hand up Dom's chest. "You look familiar..." She slurred.

"I should hope so. I've known you for quite a few years now, Granger." Dominic wanted nothing more than to slam Hermione against the wall and take her right then and there as she was. Her short dress and seductive manner was killing him. He felt a lump rise in his throat and pulse quicken at her touch. "Hermione, you're drunk. You should sit down."

She laughed. "I'm not drunk." She grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him in closer to her. "You know what... you're hot." She brought a hand up to his hair, running her fingers through it. Her leg slowly started running up his, her bare skin moving seductively along his pant leg.

Dominic groaned, "You should really stop." He wanted to pry her hands and body off of him, but a spark in his brain continued to deny him that request and froze him. He could feel her breath grazing on his neck; it caused shivers down his spine. Not to mention her hands continuing to wander around his body was only making things worse.

"Oh, don't be such a party pooper." She lightly kissed his neck. "You don't want to be the only man in this house, who doesn't get laid tonight, do you?" Her hands found his belt buckle and she tried to undo it, struggling thanks to the liquor in her system. "It wouldn't be cheating you know. I'm getting divorced." She whispered into his ear, her warm breath tickling his lobe.

"Hermione, please don't do this." He grabbed her hands and was practically begging her to stop, his eyes asking for relief from this constant torture. "This isn't you. The Hermione I know wouldn't do something like this. Come on, let's take you to bed. You can't go back home like this."

She gave him a seductive smile. "You can take me to bed anytime you want, hottie." She grabbed on to his hand, starting to lead him up the stairs but tripped over her own two feet and fell to the ground. She laid there for a few seconds before rolling on to her back and laughing at the fact that she had just tripped over her own feet.

"Ay Dio. Don't give into this Dom. She's drunk, remember that." He sighed, leaning over and carefully bringing her back to her feet. "Come on Princess. The last thing I want to do is explain to the kids why their mother woke up covered in bruises."

Hermione smiled at him, grabbing on to his hand again and pulling herself into his chest. "They don't have to see all the bruises." She winked at him, leaning in closer to whisper into his ear again, obvious to the fact that he was trying so hard to push her away. "I don't want to be the old Hermione Granger anymore. Make me into a new one."

"Bloody hell. Don't make this harder than it already is." Dominic muttered to himself. "Hermione, I'm going to ask you once more, please go to bed. I don't want you to do something you're going to regret. Just please, let me take you to bed, so you can get some rest and sleep this off."

"Oh, alright." She pushed off of him, making her way up the stairs. "You might as well go back to sleeping on the couch." She snapped, tripping once and catching herself on the railing, pulling herself back up. "I don't need your help anyway."

"Are you kidding me right now?" He scoffed and followed close behind her, making sure she wasn't going to fall face first into the floor. "Don't be angry Hermione. I care too much about you to take advantage of you like that." It wouldn't be right, technically she was still married, as much as he hated to admit that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that he slept with Hermione when she was intoxicated; no matter how much he desperately wanted to.

"Whatever." She scoffed, reaching the top of the staircase. She turned around, pointing her finger at Dom, practically thrusting it into his face. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be married to a bastard like Ron Weasley? I haven't gotten laid in years!" She turned back around; walking towards what she hoped was an empty room.

Well, now he knew why she was so cranky all the time. "You're lucky you're drunk. Otherwise I would have told you to stop being such a little whiny brat."

"I'm NOT a whiny brat, Toretto-"

He took hold of her arm and pulled her back into him, cupping her face as he crashed his lips onto hers. He couldn't help it; he'd been waiting for this opportunity for years.

She moaned into him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled herself closer to him. She took a step closer, their bodies completely touching now, her leg running up the side of his again. She was drunk, but this was pure bliss, something she hadn't felt in years. Ron had never kissed her like this, not in a few years anyway. And sex had become a thing of the past. Hugo being conceived was the last time they had ever touched each other in that way.

With the upmost care and gentle nature, Dominic held her in his arms, lifting her up and carrying her towards a spare room, away from where the children were resting for the night. He thrust the door open, using wand less magic, something he had perfected over the years, being alone in the wilderness back in Romania gave him time to spare and he used it to hone his abilities as a Wizard. His lips never leaving hers; he wanted, desired this feeling of being lost in Hermione's scent and touch.

Hermione continued to hold onto his neck, even as she felt him lift her off her feet with ease. She pulled away gently when she felt them walk into another room, now resting her head on his shoulder. She kept her eyes closed and let out a small, drunken laugh, a smile gracing her lips as her breathing started to get heavier, exhaustion and the drinks she had earlier slowly making her fall asleep.

"If only you and I had met years ago." He sighed, making his way to the bed and placing her atop it, laying the covers over her to keep her comfortable and warm. The large Manor was cold despite the temperature outside being tolerable. "Get some sleep, Granger." He smiled at her, "That hangover is going to be nasty when you wake up if you don't get enough rest."

Hermione let out a small moan, subconsciously pulling the covers tighter against her. "Thank you, Dominic." She mumbled under her breath, her mouth opening slightly as sleep reached her.

Dominic shook his head and scoffed, "Call me Dom."


	4. The Breakfast Club

"Morning there sunshine. You look chipper, and by the way your hair looks; I can guess why." Blaise smirked as he sat at the table, drinking a bit of coffee to wake himself up. It was about 9 o' clock in the morning and everyone else was asleep. Well except the blond wonder, who happened to come downstairs at that very moment with a slight smirk on his face. He guessed, lady luck paid him a visit and her name was Toretto. "Oh and thanks for last night. Seriously, thanks for that."

Draco laughed slightly, starting up a pot of tea for himself. He was never really into coffee, especially as he started to grow older. "You act like you don't get laid all the time." He said as he sat across from him, pulling an orange from the middle of the table and opening it, discarding the peels as he stood over a waste bin. "You don't have three little distractions to stop you."

"So you're saying Izzy didn't give you a bit of _fun_ last night?"

"Oh, no, she did. Trust me. Almost couldn't get her off of me." Draco laughed, using his wand to bring the pot of tea over to the table. "But that's been our first bit of fun in a long time."

"We should definitely let them go out with Hermione more often. It means more _play time_ for us." Blaise raised his mug to his lips and let the hot drink pour down his throat. He gave Draco a curious glance for a moment before speaking. "Hey, how is Izzy by the way?" He cleared his throat, "I mean from how she sounded last night; I figured all that drink didn't settle with her stomach."

Draco paused in the middle of bringing his tea to his lips, giving Blaise a questionable look. "Izzy didn't get sick." He said, curious himself now. "She's good with her liquor."

"But I heard someone vomiting."

"It wasn't Ari." A voice groaned from the doorway.

Draco and Blaise turned around and caught sight of Dominic, who looked exhausted. He rubbed his eyes, which were bloodshot and heavy as he rubbed them, blinking a few times to wake himself up.

"Do you mean to say that you were the one-"

Dom scoffed, "I wish, Blaise. Then at least I would have been tired enough to sleep it off after." He made his way to the table, pouring some Coffee that Blaise had prepared into a mug and taking a few much needed doses.

Draco stared at his brother in law curiously, putting two and two together. "That means..." His eyes got wide and a smile grew on his lips, suddenly excited. "You slept with Hermione?!" He had excitement and surprise in his voice, but he was careful to keep his voice low so nobody would hear him except for Dom and Blaise.

"No I didn't sleep with Granger, you dolt!" Dominic groaned again, feeling his head throbbing and body begging for rest. "Though after what I did last night; I deserve some compensation."

"Wait." Blaise groaned, giving Dominic a sympathetic look. "Aw, mate, you didn't?"

"Yeah, I did. It's obvious Hermione's never gotten drunk before. She ended up spending a good 2 hours over the toilet, just throwing up. I can still smell it on me, and I showered twice already."

Draco laughed, shaking his head. "Hey, at least you got to spend some time alone with her." He took a sip of his tea. "Maybe you can mention it to her, tell her she owes you now." Draco joked with a smirk, knowing very well that Dom would never do that, especially to Hermione.

"Oh yeah, and then I'll tell her that she should do my laundry while I'm at it." He rolled his eyes, and shook his head.

"Tell who what?" Izzy yawned, stepping into the kitchen in a pair of shorts and Draco's shirt that he was wearing the night before,wiping the side of her face with her palm.

"Oh, nothing." Draco said quickly, pulling out the seat next to him. "Here, I made some tea." He glanced over at Blaise. "Does Caroline always take this long to wake up?" He asked, taking another sip from his cup.

"She does when she's hung-over. Not everyone has your wife's iron stomach. How many drinks did you lot have anyways?"

"A lot. Caroline finished half a bottle of Firewhiskey, Hermione had quite a few glasses of wine, and I don't remember how much I drank; I lost track after the first bottle." Isabella turned to Draco and whined, wrapping her arms around his neck, and looking up at him. "I'm hungry. What are you cooking for breakfast?"

"See what I mean." Blaise added.

Draco smiled at Blaise before turning back to his wife. She was crazy if she thought he was going to cook after the exhausting night of sex he had with her last night. "Cereal." He said simply. "I'll even get it from the pantry for you, sweetheart." He smirked at her.

"Cereal? After what I did for you, I get cereal?" Isabella said incredulously, pushing herself off of him.

Draco hitched a laugh in his throat, shaking his head as he turned in his chair, now staring at the back of her head. "I watched _our _children, Toretto. You should be grateful."

"Cereal is not going to give me much of a recharge." She muttered to herself under her breath, going over to the fridge and grabbing everything in sight; taking it over to the counter. "How you expect anyone to thrive on Cereal after last night is beyond me."

Dominic rubbed his temples rhythmically, deeply sighing. "Can you not argue with my sister about your sex life while I'm in the same room?"

Blaise, however was leaned back in his chair with his arms folded and a smile on his face. "Cheer up Toretto, its breakfast and a show."

"How you expect me to cook after last night, is beyond me. Just call Squeaks. Have her cook. That is what we pay her for, after all." He turned back to Blaise and Dom and rolled his eyes, grabbing a second orange from the middle of the table. He was content with the fruit, personally.

"I am not putting that little elf to work on her day off, _Malfoy_."

"Morning everyone."

"Glad to see you survived Care." Izzy smiled, chopping up a few vegetables for breakfast.

Caroline's brown hair, like Izzy's was a mess, as she approached the group of friends. "I borrowed some of your clothes, Izzy. That dress was getting uncomfortable."

"That's why I had you take it off." Blaise smirked and wiggled his eye brows, playfully pulling Caroline into his lap.

Dominic rolled his eyes and stared at his sister instead, unable to take more of this talk of sex, seeing as he didn't get any. "Need help, Ari?"

"No. It's ok." She stopped, holding her knife midway through a tomato. "Why don't you get some rest Dom? You look tired. I'll save you some breakfast if you sleep through it."

It was then that Hermione came staggering into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. She plopped down on one of the empty seats, her head pounding and her stomach in knots. She felt like she was going to puke, again. "How are you all so cheery?" She asked, watching Izzy make breakfast and feeling even more nauseous. "I feel like I had the worst night of my life." She groaned.

"I take it you weren't feeling the alcohol last night?" Caroline asked, drinking from Blaise's cup.

Dominic sighed and shook his head. "Call me when Breakfast is ready Ari. I'll be out of your hair in a few anyways." With that he made his way up the stairwell without giving so much a second glance in Hermione's direction.

"Dominic never misses breakfast, and I was making his favorite; omelets with extra cheese." Isabella sighed, going back to her work, now cracking a few eggs into a bowl and whisking them. She turned to Draco and Blaise, "Do either of you know whats wrong with him?"

Both wizards shook their heads, knowing truth clear as day but merely answering, "No." feigning concern, and Blaise's eyes drifting over to Hermione briefly and then back to his wife before he was seen.

Hermione watched Domininc leave curiously, feeling a sort of familiar feeling at looking at him that she wasn't able to explain. She couldn't remember anything from the night before after about 11 o clock. Her mind was completely blank. She glanced down at the table, wondering in the back of her mind if something had happened between the two of them. Izzy was right, he did look exhausted.

"Here, Hermione." Draco poured her a cup of coffee. "This should help."

"Oh, thank you, Draco." She glanced at the doorway where Dominic had gone through one last time before giving Draco a forced smile. "I don't think I could stomach it though."

"I told you to pace yourself, Granger." Isabella explained, heating up the stove and taking out a pan, filling it with a few drops of oil.

Hermione glanced over at Caroline.

"What?" Caroline asked. "Oh come on, don't blame this on me. I gave you those drinks but I didn't force them down your throat."

Isabella laughed and turned around, setting the temperature on low. "Caroline, you were shouting: Shots! Shots! Shots! And put her on the spot in front of everyone. What else was she supposed to do?"

"Excuse me for trying to make her first night out memorable for her. From what I remember, you _were_ having fun Hermione. You couldn't stop smiling the entire night." She then looked down at Hermione's forearm and her eyes widened; she leaned over the table and took hold of it, turning her arm over to get a better look. "So he did give you his number?"

"Who?" Izzy quipped.

"The bartender. Look!"

Hermione glanced down at her own arm, eyes widening. "Oh, Merlin, I can't let Ron see this." She stood up, walking over to the sink and rubbing it fiercely with soap and water. "He'll accuse me of cheating on him. Use that when we go to court." She wasn't going to call the bartender anyway. Hell, she barely remembered what he looked like. "The last thing I need is adultery on his side."

"Calm down, Granger. It's just a number and even then it's not that big. Relax, before you throw yourself into a panic attack."

"She's right 'Mione. Breathe." Isabella took Hermione's hands in her own and gave her a smile. "No one is going to tell Ron that we went. And besides it was a muggle club, no one of magical background saw us. It's only ink, it will come off." She gave Blaise and Draco a look, one asking for discretion. "Right, boys?

"Yeah, of course." Draco said, not even paying attention to what was going on anymore, his eyes on the Daily Prophet from the day before. He had been preoccupied and hadn't had a chance to read it yet.

Hermione still didn't look convinced, but calmed down slightly. "You have no idea what I've been through with him. He's trying everything he possibly can to make sure he comes out looking like the better person in all of this. He has all his brothers on his side, even Ginny." She sighed. "Thankfully Harry is refusing to choose sides."

"Everything will be alright in the end, Granger. You'll see." Blaise chimed in.

"Draco. Can I speak with you for a second?" Isabella let go of Hermione and set her hand down on his newspaper, slamming it back down on the table. "Now." She ordered, grabbing his hand and leading him out and into his office.

"Alright, alright, calm down." Draco gave her a curious look as reached the quiet of one of Draco's favorite rooms in the house.

"What's your problem?"

She made sure no one was listening in the halls before closing the door on the room. "Did you hear anything that Hermione was saying downstairs? Or were you too enthralled in your damn paper to listen?"

"Of course I heard what she said." He said, fixing his shirt from practically being yanked out of the kitchen by his wife. "So Weasley's jealous. Are you surprised by that?"

"Not that part, stupid. I meant about her situation. We can't let her go back home, to that hell hole she's living in."

"So what are we going to do, kidnap her? She'll want to go home. She didn't even want to come out and now you expect her to stay? Besides, she has Rose and Hugo. You can't just keep them from Weaselbee."

"Well I was thinking, since we had so much empty space-" Isabella gave him a small smile.

"I know that face, Isabella." Draco sighed. He truly knew his wife all too well. "What are you planning this time?"

"-She and the kids could stay here. Just for a few days. I could watch the kids for her while she's at work with you. I know she might not even want to, but could you just offer the suggestion to her?"

One look into her puppy-dog eyes and he gave in. "Alright, fine. I'll pass along the invitation. But I'm telling you right now, she's not going to want to stay. People find it hard to believe, but I've come to know Granger pretty well from working with her."

"Convince her to stay. I have a feeling she's not going to be completely honest with us about what's going on at home. Call it a hunch but I have a bad feeling about this. Like something's wrong."

Draco gave her a small smile, kissing her on the top of her head. "Nothing's wrong. Well, I mean... other than the fact that they're getting a divorce."

"Say what you want, but I don't like it."

A thought suddenly hit Draco, one that would throw his wife off to what had happened between his brother in law and his partner. "And what was up with Dom this morning? He seemed... restrained."

She shook her head and turned her eyes to the door before speaking, "I dunno. Like I said, he looked sick. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was depressed or something."

Draco raised an eyebrow at his wife, "Izzy, what are you-"

"Shh."

Taking a few quiet steps towards the door, Izzy pulled it open sharply and Scorpius, Rose, Sophia and Tyler fell on the ground. "Were you three listening on our conversation?"

All three of her children stared up at their mother like a deer in headlights. "Ummmm...-" Tyler started, but Scorpius cut him off.

"Of course not, mum. We were wondering what was for breakfast." Scorpius put on his guilty smile, giving them away right away. Draco grinned, trying to hide it, but not able to see himself in his son. Sophia just pushed passed Izzy and ran straight for her father, jumping into his arms.

"And you couldn't head downstairs instead of coming up here?" Isabella asked, giving the children and all-knowing glare. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, otherwise, I'd have your father punish you for this." She joked, and knelt down to their eye levels. "Be honest, was Dad any fun last night?"

"Uncle Dom was funner than Daddy. He let me braid his hair. Daddy doesn't let me touch his hair. And I played knights and Princesses with Uncle Dom too! He was the king and I was the princess, and...and...and...and he saved me from the Dragon." Sophia explained, making noises and gestures with her hands to symbolize a creature flying and crashing into things.

Draco chuckled at his daughter, kissing the side of her head as he held her on his hip. "Mr. Draco made us chicken." Rosie chimed in. "It was good. Better than my daddy's. But not my mummy's. Mum says that dad doesn't know how to cook because Grandma Molly spoiled him." She said with a smile, knowing it was true.

Tyler nodded in agreement. "Dad was satisfactory."

"Satisfactory?" Draco asked, caught off guard. "When did you even learn that word."

"Sherlock Holmes." Tyler said nonchalantly.

"We didn't even see dad because Ty was too busy-"

Tyler cleared his throat, elbowing his brother in the side. "We were too busy reading. A healthy mind leads to a healthy life, dad."

"Oh yeah. We wanted to get a head start on next week's chapter mum; since you cut us short on Friday." Scorpius added with an innocent smile on his face. "Plus Rose wanted to know what the books were about."

Draco shook his head at the twins, giving his wife and knowing look. "You two are the worst liars, ever." He said walking towards the door. "Now, come on, mums making breakfast."

"Shit! The stove!" Isabella exclaimed, literally leaping down the flight of stairs.

"Could you be quieter next time, Scor? You're supposed to be a guy of secrets and all that."

"Sorry. It just kind of slipped out." Scorpius smirked at Tyler as the two watched Rose follow Draco and Sophia leave the room. "So I almost told dad and mum that you wanted to kiss Rose. Who cares? It's not like they were going to punish you for it."

"I don't want them knowing about it. I'll never hear the end of it."

"It's going to happen eventually. You like her. Not to mention, you two are geeks. It's perfect."

"Shut up Scor. Before I tell dad why you were in his office last week."

"I'm shaking in my trainers. Like you'd ever tell." He scoffed, following their parents.

"Mummy!" Rose leaped into Hermione's arms when she saw her sitting in the kitchen. Hermione let out a small groan as Rosie landed right on her stomach.

"Hi, sweetheart." She forced a smile, finally taking a sip of the coffee that Draco had given her, but immediately putting it down.

"So, Granger, do you have any plans for today?" Draco chimed in, placing Sophia down in one of the empty seats.

"Oh, well I should really be getting home." She gave a nervous laugh. "Don't want Ron to worry too much." She smiled, but it was distant.

Isabella cleared her throat loudly as she continued to cook a meal large enough for everyone sitting at the table.

Draco glared over at the back of Izzy's head, wondering if she could possibly be any more obvious, as he spoke. "Well I was kind of hoping you'd stick around for a while. With the stress from the-" He stopped, remembering that Rose was in the room. "Well... you know, some company would do you some good. We have plenty of room here in the Manor for you, Rosie, and Hugo."

Hermione looked completely caught off guard. "Oh, Draco... I- I don't...-"

"You're more than welcome to stay, Hermione. We have plenty of space in this house and I could use someone here to help me keep my sanity. Since work seems to be such an issue around here. What do you say 'Mione?" Isabella laid breakfast on the table out for everyone.

"Can we mummy? Can we stay?" Rose pleaded to her mother with puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, you should Ms. Granger." Tyler said, eagerly, which his brother caught immediately and smiled.

"Be subtle, Tyler." Scorpius whispered.

Isabella gestured over to the children, "See, even the kids want you to stay, Granger. How can you say no?"

"Make her stay Daddy. We need another girl to play with. Please, Daddy. Please?"

Draco looked over at Hermione. "We can make everything easier for you. Take loads of stress off."

Hermione looked around nervously. "Well...I don't know." She bit her lower lip. "I'd at least have to let Ron know..."

"Just stay Hermione. I doubt he'd mind, besides, this way we can see you more often." Caroline said, taking a bit of toast from the table.

"Do you have any plans today?" Isabella asked Caroline who shook her head.

"None. I was just going to spend a day at home catching up on a soap on the telly."

"How would you feel about going to the beach?"

"I'm up for it." Caroline shrugged, turning her attention over to Blaise. "What do you think, Honey?"

"Let's go."

Blaise whispered in her ear, while she continued to sit in her lap. "Gives me an excuse to see you half naked anyways."

"Are we going to the beach Daddy?" Sophia chirped, looking very excited.

"Of course we are, sweetheart." Draco asked, watching as Sophia shoveled food into her mouth. "Finish your breakfast then go get ready. You too boys." Draco said, nodding towards the twins.

"Are we going, mummy?" Rosie asked, giving Hermione a hopeful look.

Hermione sighed. "Oh, alright. But don't get your hopes up about staying the night, again, alright?" She stood up, placing Rosie down on the chair she had previously occupied. "I'm going to go wake up Hugo." She said softly before walking from the room and heading for the stairs.

When Hermione found the room where Hugo was sleeping; she was shocked with what she saw.

"He's fine. Just woke up a bit cranky." Dominic said, voice low to keep from disturbing Hugo as he held him in his arms and walking about the room, rocking him to calm him.

"Oh..." Hermione stared at Dom, not sure what to say. She hadn't expected to find this upon entering the room. "Umm... thank you for taking care of him. You could have just come and got me though." She said, a small smile gracing her lips.

Dominic shrugged; continuing to walk about the room. "I was already up here; figured you could use a break after last night." Hugo looked minuscule in Dom's muscular arms, as if the slightest squeeze could crush him down to nothing, and yet little Hugo looked so comfortable and content, blissfully sleeping away and sucking his thumb.

Hermione looked down at the ground, slightly embarrassed. "I don't even remember what happened last night." She looked back up at. "That's ridiculous, isn't it?" She asked with a small, nervous laugh.

"Take it as an _experience_. It's not like you missed much anyways." His warm and inviting smile curved on his lips. "Feeling better?"

She smiled, walking over to him, extending her arms to take Hugo from him. "I suppose so. I feel like I spent half the night puking up everything I had to eat and drink for the past month."

"Your hunch isn't too far off." Dom carefully handed him over to her, gently caressing Hugo's head, and hitching a laugh in his throat. "I'll leave you to it."

She held her son tightly against her chest, smiling down at him. "I actually came to get him some breakfast. Which is ready downstairs by the way." There was laughter coming from outside the door which quickly passed as 4 sets of children's feet ran by. "Everyone's getting ready to go to the beach. Which is probably the last thing I wanted to do today."

"You could use some sun yourself. You're as pale as a ghost, Granger." He joked, crossing his arms and giving her a once over. "Yeah, you are in definite need of a tan. The sooner the better."

Hermione blushed brightly as his eyes raked over her body. "Well in my defense I've been working a lot lately, and with Ron-." She stopped talking, lowering her head again. She only hoped Dom wouldn't catch onto what she was about to say.

"He's obviously too busy to crack open a curtain." Dom finished her sentence and took a few steps and opened the door, turning around one last time before departing. "Take it from me. You're way too pretty to just waste away in the shadows." With that he closed the door behind him, heading back downstairs, figuring sleep wasn't worth doing anymore.

Hermione blushed even more, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear as Hugo opened his eyes and smiled up at her. She smiled at him, her thoughts on the older Gryffindor though. He had complimented her after looking her body up and down. She shook the thought from her mind and held Hugo tighter against her chest. "Come on, hunnie. We're going to the beach." She said, heading for the door.

* * *

"Think this will look good on me?" Caroline asked, stealing one of Izzy's swim suits from her wardrobe. They were having a small runway fashion show in the master bedroom, with Caroline parading in front of the mirror more times than Isabella could count.

Isabella smiled, slipping on a pair of tiny shorts over her, keeping her red bikini top. "Everything looks good on you, Car. You just want me to boost to your ego."

"Think we should let Hermione borrow one?"

"We can, but I don't think she'll go for it. Getting her into that dress was hard enough. Think she's going to want to walk around half naked in front of a crowd of people?"

"Suppose you're right. Which one says, I'm hot but I'm not slutty. The green or the black?"

"Honestly, I doubt Blaise cares. I think if you'd walk downstairs wearing nothing but a towel, he'd be happy."

Caroline nodded. "Yeah, you're right." She tossed the black one over her shoulder. "I'll go for the green one. Maybe it'll bring out his inner Slytherin." She winked at Izzy, walking into the bathroom to change. "Does Draco have an inner Slytherin?" She asked from the bathroom.

_Really?_

"Draco has an inner Gryffindor; if you get what I mean. But lately I feel like he's strictly a Hufflepuff what with all this work he has." She sighed, standing in front of a mirror, fixing her hair. "We used to have sex non-stop before we had the kids. I mean, there were times when Draco literally dragged me up the stairs and took me as I was without even a warning. You could name any room in the house and I could tell you exactly where we've had sex in there. If you thought Blaise was horny all the time, Draco was a lot more animalistic. And I loved every bit of it."

Caroline walked out of the bathroom, fixing her hair. "Kids change things, Izzy." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "Why do you think me and Blaise haven't had kids yet. We're living it out while we're young."

"You don't want kids? Or Blaise doesn't want kids?" Isabella turned to her best friend and smirked.

Caroline froze, pointing a finger at Izzy. "I didn't say that. I say 'yet'. We haven't had kids 'yet'." She went back to straightening her hair. "And don't act like you and Draco don't go crazy when you do have the opportunity." She smirked at Izzy. "I saw your hair this morning."

"No shit, I took that opportunity. I needed my Slytherin fix." Isabella laughed, and slipped on a pair of sandals. "We love sex; at least I admit it and if you're going to start pointing fingers; _your_ hair was a mess too."

Caroline waved her hand in dismissal. "Please, you should see my hair after he's had a rough day at the hospital. You would think with him being exhausted, the sex would suck, but really, it only makes it better." She chuckled slightly.

"Are you girls done talking about your sex life yet?" Draco poked his head inside the door. "We're all waiting downstairs."

"It's nothing you haven't heard before Draco. And I was praising you, so you should be thanking me." Izzy smirked, and Caroline followed her out, throwing Draco a wink.

"Don't worry. She made you out to be quite the pro in that department."

"Oh, never change, Caroline. Never change." Isabella laughed.

Draco followed after them. "Is that sarcasm? Because if so, I'll have you know that I'm a pro in the bedroom. Hell, I bet I'm better than Blaise."

He suddenly smirked. "Why do you think the girls were chasing after me and not him?"

"Because every girl has a fantasy about sleeping with a bad boy, and since you were, as we like to call it, _off-limits_ it made you that much more desirable." Caroline stated, "And I don't know about being better than Blaise."

Isabella thought this would be the perfect opportunity to fluff his ego; it might help her later on and she might get lucky again tonight. "Draco, you know I would fuck you right here if there wasn't anyone about, without question."

Blaise's eyes immediately went to his wife, and they glistened, full of desire and lust. "No one is better than I am. You should know that by now, Malfoy."

Draco stared at Izzy, eyes full of desire, giving her a seductive smile, before turning to Blaise. "Give me a break Zabini." He smirked. "I'm so good I made three kids. Two without even meaning too." He wrapped his arm around Izzy's shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

"Keep telling yourself that Malfoy. I'm so good I make Care scream bloody-"

Caroline nudged Blaise in the chest with her elbow and cocked her head in the direction of the children, giving Blaise a stern look.

"-I..I make Caroline scream with joy when I bring her sweets from Hogsmeade." Blaise stammered, forcing a smile as 4 children stared up at him with curious eyes.

Isabella sighed, "Boys. Always a competition on who has the better hardware."

"Daddy, are we leaving yet?" Sophia whined, walking over to Draco and holding her arms up for Draco to pick her up.

He obliged, holding her on her hip. "Whenever Miss Hermione comes back downstairs." He saw Rosie standing with Tyler. "Rosie, sweetheart, where's your mum?"

Rose smiled. "She was upstairs getting Hugo and talking to the nice man."

"I'm right here!" Hermione called, walking down the stairs wearing a pair of long shorts and a tank top, Hugo in her arms. "Sorry, it took longer than I thought to get him ready."

"Get who ready?" Blaise whispered, grinning to himself.

"Shut up will you. You seriously need to keep a lid on that mouth of yours." Caroline commented yet again, rolling her eyes at her husband who seemed more childish than the children at times.

"Tyler, Scorpius. Come here for a moment." Isabella beckoned, as the two boys made their way towards her.

"Yes mum?" They asked, and she bent down low, whispering something in their ears. The two looked to one another and grinned before taking off in the direction of the backyard.

Isabella smirked, very pleased with herself and crossed her arms.

Draco smiled at his wife, before turning back to Hermione. "You're not wearing that, are you, Granger? Where's your suit?"

"Oh..." Hermione put Hugo down on the ground and he quickly starting waddling over towards his sister. "Well, you know, I'll be too busy with Hugo to really swim anyway. It's fine."

"We can raid Izzy's closet. I do it anyways; she doesn't mind, right Toretto?"

"More like using me as your own private wardrobe." Izzy turned her attention to Hermione, "But in all honesty, you can borrow one of my suits if you want to. I really don't mind."

Scorpius returned with a smug look on his face and gave his mother a nod. "Done."

"No, it's fine, really." Hermione insisted with a friendly smile. "I'll just be the designated babysitter and you guys can have fun in the water. I'm not a big swimmer anyway." She gave a nervous laugh, knowing the last part was a lie, and if Harry or Ron were here, they would have called her out on it.

"I think you're more stubborn then me, Granger." Draco said with a chuckle.

"Damn. Caroline, would you go and grab my bag. The one I left on the bed, the _black_ one."

"Black bag? What black bag?"

"The bag that you found, behind the dresser. I want to fill it with sunscreen for the kids. The last thing we need is 5 children with aching skin in the middle of the night."

"Black-"

"The one tossed to the side because you didn't think it looked _Slytherin_ enough."

Caroline furrowed her brow, and the light bulb suddenly went off in her head. "Oooh, that black bag. The one I didn't like, but you said was cute?"

Isabella smiled at the fact that Caroline had caught on to what she was doing, "Yes, that one. Get it for me would you?"

Caroline hitched a laugh in her throat and shook her head, dashing back up the stairs to grab the item in question.

Tyler came back into the room, and went to his brother's side, sneaking a wink at his mother. She mouthed, "_Well done boys"_ and counted off quietly. "_3, 2, 1..."_

"Ari!"

"Right on time." She said to herself.

"Ari. What's this about you being against Tyler learning how to swim?" Dominic called, storming back into the sitting room, looking frustrated.

"You know that I'm afraid of water, Dom."

"So. That doesn't mean that the poor kid shouldn't have to suffer on your part. If he wants to swim, he should swim. You chicken."

"Then you teach him. I'm not getting in that water."

"Then why the hell are you going to a beach?"

"To get a tan, duh!" She snapped.

"Oh no. There is no way in hell, that I'm letting my favorite nephews keep on living without learning how to swim." Dominic answered, turning to face the twins with a smile, despite being exhausted. "You're going to learn to swim, mate. And Uncle Dom is going to teach you and Scor that water is your new best friend. How's that sound?"

The twins smiled eagerly and nodded their heads.

"I didn't find your bag, Izzy but I slipped some sunscreen into this other bag for the kids." Caroline handed an orange bag over to Izzy, giving her a playful look out of view from everyone.

"Can we go now!?" Sophia whined to Draco.

"Yes, we can go now." He answered as Hermione picked Hugo up off the ground and grabbed onto Rose's hand with her other arm, looking like she was struggling slightly, but making it work anyway. "Daddy was going to get his work from his office, but mummy will just yell at me if I do." Draco said to his daughter, smirking. "Right?"

Sophia nodded, a bright smile on her face. "Yeah, mummy always yells at you, but mummy always wins too!"

Blaise bit his lip and chuckled softly, attempting to keep his laughter from bursting.

Isabella kissed Sophia's face at her cheeky remarks. "That's right Sophia, because whatever Mummy says goes. Just ask your Uncle Blaise what happened the last time someone made mummy mad."

"Did mummy yell at you too, Uncle Blaise? I heard Daddy ask mummy if she was angry because Daddy said she was sechualy Frussraded."

Isabella's eyes went straight for Draco, glaring at him intensely. He was in for it later, when everyone was out of sight.

Draco cleared his throat. "Are we going or are we just going to sit around here all day?" He took the bag that Caroline had brought down out of Izzy's hand and threw it over his shoulder, still carrying Sophia in his arms. "Meet you guys there." He said before quickly apprating away, trying to avoid his wife's wrath.

* * *

The group of wizards and witches arrived at a private little cove in Cornwall. Cliffs surrounded the white sandy covered beach with tiny steams of water coursing through the sand. The sun high up in the sky and shining down brightly. Scor and Tyler ran for the surf but Izzy quickly caught them both by the arms, pulling them back and away from the water.

"Mum!"

"Sorry boys, but you need sunscreen." Isabella said, covering their exposed skin in the cream. "And stop squirming so much, or I'll have your dad do this."

"Mum, we're not babies!" Scorpius drawled, his eyes on the waves continuing to creep onto the beach.

"She's right boys." Dominic leaned closer, just enough to whisper into the twins' ears. "Trust your mum; even she scares me sometimes."

"And you three are Malfoys." Draco grabbed the bottle of sunscreen from the sand, applying it to Sophia while Izzy worked on the boys. "You have skin so pale you'd burn up in a second."

"Would you mind if I used some of that as well?" Hermione asked, gesturing towards the sun screen. "Afraid I didn't come prepared for the beach when it comes to these two."

"Mum, I don't need that stuff!" Rose cried. "It's yucky!"

"Rosie, you will burn and your skin will be redder then your hair. Now come on and behave." Rose groaned, walking closer to Hermione.

"There. That wasn't so bad." Izzy smiled, releasing the twins. "Now stay close to your uncle Dom! Don't go into the deep water without him!"

"Yes mum!" They yelled, running to the water's edge and meeting Dominic without bothering to turn back.

She and Caroline unrolled their towels on the sand and lied down upon them, catching some sun while they could. "At least I don't have to watch the kids for a little while."

"Thank Merlin for babysitters."

"Amen to that Care." Isabella replied, putting on her pair of sunglasses, and lying face up on the sand.

Hermione gave Rose a little pat on her bum. "Alright, go play with the boys and Mister Dominic. But behave, Rosie." Hermione said sternly, grabbing Hugo and applying the sunscreen to him, handing him a shovel and a bucket when she was done and letting him play, taking a seat next to Izzy. "This is nice." Hermione said, smiling at her two friends. "Ron never wanted to do anything like this with the kids."

"He's a prat for never doing so, then."

Hermione smiled at Izzy, her eyes now on her feet as they ran through the sand. "Yeah, I suppose." Her voice was distant, eyes now lost in her own thoughts as the sun beat down on them.

"Oh, that reminds me." Izzy went to her bag, and pulled out the black swim suit that Caroline was debating earlier on in the morning. "You need to look hot on this beach. It's mandatory."

"Wear it or we'll strip you down in front of everyone, Granger." Caroline warned, crossing her arms as Izzy simply handed her the suit before laying back down again.

Hermione stared at the bathing suit, then back at the two girls. "Oh, no, I couldn't wear this." She held it up in the air like it was infected with the plague. "I mean, it's barely anything! I'd be practically naked."

"Hermione, that swim suit is a lot less revealing than ours'. Trust me, you'll look great in it. I mean, you got the body for it."

"Izzy's right, Hermione. It will look sexy on you, once you slip it on. Don't be so shy, its only Draco and Blaise; they've seen us naked before. You're not going to be a giant shock to them."

"Draco's too busy worrying about work to even notice if I were naked, so I doubt they'd even take note of you changing." Izzy turned to Hermione, "Weren't you telling us last night how you hated the fact that the entire world was living and you were stuck in a rut? This is the best way to go about it. Do something! Live a little. It's one life Granger, don't spend your entire life wondering _what if_?"

Hermione glanced up at the water, taking note of Dom busy playing with the kids. She wanted to say that it wasn't just Blaise and Draco, but instead groaned and stood up from the sand. "Watch Hugo, will you?" She didn't wait for an answer and instead retreated for the bathrooms where she could change. Isabella and Caroline were going to kill her.

"Think she's actually going to change?" Caroline's eyes followed Hermione as she rounded a corner and out of sight.

Izzy shrugged, waving her wand and casting a small protective shield around Hugo, keeping him from waddling off into the surf. "I hope so. No one is going to look at her if she doesn't show a little skin." With a sigh, she called her Husband. "Draco!"

"What?!" Draco yelled back from the water as he caught Sophia after having tossed her into the air. He glanced over at his wife and then told his daughter to go and play with Tyler and Scorpius before walking over to them. "Where did Granger go?" He asked, looking around for her.

She glanced up at Draco, running a hand through her hair. "She went to the loo to change. I called you over here because like Granger, you need to get a bit of sun in and standing near that cliff under all that shade isn't going to help." She joked, smirking up at him playfully.

"Well, I _was_ playing with your daughter until you called me over here." He glanced out at the water where Dom was now playing with all four of the kids. "Besides, my pale skin is part of my Malfoy trait. I'd look weird if I was actually tan." He laughed, pulling down the sleeves a little more on his buttoned up shirt, the buttons completely undone to allow some cool beach air to blow inside. "Besides, it's not like I can take this off, anyway." Draco said, nodding towards his left forearm where his dark mark still sat after all these years.

"I can take it off in a more private setting if you want me too." She offered, letting the sun's rays soak up in her skin; giving color to her pallor.

"You horny little slut." Caroline muttered to herself, smiling.

"Takes one to know one, Caroline."

Hermione walked back over towards the group, pulling at the bottoms of the bathing suit over her bottom, making sure it was covering as much as she possibly could, then crossing her arms over her chest, her cheeks turning red, and not from the sun. "I feel ridiculous." She mumbled, standing before them, eyebrows scrunched in embarrassment.

Isabella had to pull up her glasses to make sure they weren't clouding her vision. She couldn't believe Hermione actually wore the suit. She opened her mouth to speak, but could think of no words to describe the sight before her. "Y-You..."

"Holy shit! I would fuck you if I were into girls!" Caroline exclaimed, glancing over at Hermione, with a stunned look that resembled Izzy's.

Hermione blushed even more. "Oh, please." She glanced around, avoiding Draco who was staring up at Hermione with wide eyes. Never had her seen her like this, and he honestly didn't know what to say. He only hoped Izzy didn't see him. "Can I go put my other clothes back on now? Or maybe disappear into the sand."

"No!" Caroline and Isabella cried simultaneously.

"Draco. Tell Hermione she looks amazing in that bikini." Caroline said, grinning brightly, sitting up and locking eyes with Granger.

"...Ummm..." Draco quickly looked away, now staring at the ground. "I don't really feel comfortable doing that. She's my partner and I'm afraid that if I say what I really think of how she looks I might lose my manhood via my wife later on." He ran his feet through the sand; still avoiding the three girls' eyes.

Hermione groaned. "Can I at least have a towel!?"

Blaise sneaked over to the trio, coming from behind Hermione and looking her up and down before coming to face her. "I wouldn't wear a towel. You look really good, Granger." His eyes raked over her body, and he played it off with a laugh, sitting beside Caroline; water dripping from his body after swimming for a while in the warm waters. "You on the other hand-" He kissed Caroline, starting with her neck and going down to her collarbone, pinning her to the ground. "Look, appetizing in that suit Caroline Zabini."

Izzy scoffed, and rolled her eyes. "And she called me a horny little slut."

Blaise smirked up at Izzy as Hermione plopped down onto a towel, her arms still pressed tightly against her chest. "I still feel ridiculous." She mumbled, grabbing a spare towel and throwing it over her shoulders anyway.

"I am really going to regret this." Isabella whispered to herself, every fiber in her being screaming: _No. Don't do this. You're crazy._ "Come on, Hermione." She beckoned, standing up and nervously glancing at the ocean before her. "Let's get you in the water. Draco will watch Hugo, this way the water will cover up most of your body."

Hermione nervously looked up at Izzy then to the sea. "I-I don't know."

"Just go, Granger." Draco said, smiling at Hugo as he held a handful of sand up to the adults, showing them. "We got this."

She sighed, standing up and throwing the towel back into the sand. "Oh, alright. But only for a second."

Izzy continued to try and keep a level head as her biggest fear stood before her. Heart beating loudly against her chest and body shaking as the distance between her and the water diminished. The water lightly swept over her toes and she felt the sand sinking beneath her feet.

"I'm helping a friend. I'm helping a friend." She told herself over and over, watching her own children playing in the shallow water with her brother, along with Rosie, enjoying themselves and laughing, splashing water all around.

The kids suddenly looked up, Rose being the first to spot her mother. "Mummy!" She yelled, running over to her. She splashed the entire way, soaking Izzy and Hermione, before jumping into Hermione's arms. "Mummy, you put a bathing suit on!" She cried happily.

It was then that the Malfoy kids realized their mother was there too, but their reactions were completely different. They, instead, had smirks on all their faces, identical to Draco's. "Look Uncle Dom, mum's in the water." Tyler said, Scorpius chuckling next to him. They all knew her hatred for the water.

Dominic looked up and his eyes went straight for Hermione. The feeling of his heart dropping in shock at the girl before him. Was this a dream? Was Hermione really standing right in front of him looking drop-dead gorgeous? He felt everything around him go hazy except the perfect image of Hermione that he couldn't fathom was real, pure perfection.

"Are you having fun sweetie?" Hermione asked Rose, who nodded quickly.

"Mr. Dominic is fun, mummy!" Rose said, smiling over at Dom, pointing a finger at him.

"Don't point, Rosie, that's not polite." Hermione scolded her daughter gently, looking up at Dom briefly and smiling at him before looking back to her daughter.

"Uncle Dom." Scorpius called mischievously. "You should get mummy and drag her in the water. It will be funny."

"Uncle Dom." Tyler looked up at his uncle who was out of it. "Uncle Dom!" He cried and at last Dominic shook his head and looked around dazed and confused.

"What?"

"Are you even listening to us Uncle Dom?" Tyler said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring.

"No, he's too busy staring over at _Granger_." Scorpius mocked, rolling his eyes.

Hermione cleared her throat at hearing the twins, looking down at the water. "Mummy! Come play in the water with me!" Rosie yelled, bouncing on Hermione's arm.

"Alright, sweetheart." Hermione put her down onto the sand, Rose immediately running away from her, turning around and making sure Hermione was chasing after her. Hermione sighed, forgetting about protecting herself from the sight of others and chasing her daughter, happy as long as she was happy in return.

Dom couldn't take his eyes off her and bravely took a step to meet her, but he was quickly interrupted by a pair of cheeky twins; who decided to splash him, and then trip him. Knocking him on his arse and causing him to face-plant on the sandy beach. Sand riddled his mouth and he coughed to clear his throat.

They all laughed at him, including Izzy, and at hearing the splash, Rose had stopped running away from her mother, turning around and stopping before laughing herself. Hermione turned at hearing what was going on, covering her mouth with her hand as a small chuckle escaped her lips. She, however, walked over to him, extending her hand towards him.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Hell, he had helped her earlier by taking care of Hugo. Why couldn't she help him now?

_Could this have been any more embarrassing? _

Dom groaned, dismissing her with a wave of his arm and standing up on his own. "Trust me, I've had worse." He took note of his sister laughing at him and thought having someone else suffer at the moment; would seem like the best way to keep the focus off of him. "Think that's funny Ari?" Dom scurried towards her and threw her over his shoulder. "This is for all those months I spent during your hell; you called a pregnancy."

"No! Dom, stop!" She cried, eyes full of fright and panic as he pulled her into deeper waters. "Please, Dom stop! I'm sorry!"

He wouldn't listen and continued forward. "You have to get over this stupid fear of the water you have." Dom explained, calmly.

"Draco!" She was screaming, begging her husband to come and stop him. "Draco!"

"Will you relax, I'm not going to drown you."

"Draco!"

Draco poked his head up at hearing her cries for help, and at seeing his wife being dragged into the water, stood up and sprinted towards the water. "Toretto! What the hell are you doing?! You know she's terrified of the water!" He quickly made his way into the water, but Dom was stronger and faster than he was.

"This is holding her back from enjoying the water from it is. Once she sees that there's nothing to fear; she will get over this."

Tears were streaming down Izzy's face as her body shook, continuing to scream out. "Please make him stop!" The water was up to her neck and she felt her panic attack rise from within her, already hyperventilating.

"Uncle Dom, stop it!" The twins cried; staying on the shore as Hermione kept them from leaving the edge.

Draco swam over, making him move faster seeing as Dom had to carry Izzy. He reached them quickly and grabbed onto Izzy, giving Dom a shove. "What in Merlin's pants is the matter with you!?" He pulled Izzy as hard as it could, grabbing onto her and quickly walking away from Dom. "Have you lost it?!" He was walking back towards the shore, away from Dom. "It's alright Isabella, calm down." Draco said, holding her practically on his shoulders to keep her as high from the water as possible.

She wept, gripping to his neck tightly, breathing abnormally.

The twins watched their father carry their mother to shore with sad looks on their faces. "Mum?" Scorpius asked, "Is mum ok?"

Tyler glared at his uncle, who still stood in the deep waters. "Jerk!" The two followed their father who continued to try and calm their mother.

Hermione stared at Dom, biting her lower lip, for a few seconds after everyone else had left, before grabbing onto Rosie's hand. "Come on, sweetie, let's go get you a snack." They started walking away, Hermione nothing bothering to give Dom one more look, instead leaving him in the water by himself, staring back at everyone slowly leaving him

He groaned, now feeling guilty for putting his sister through that. What was wrong with him? He had just ruined all hope he had with Hermione. For what? For letting his anger and frustration get the better of him. His intentions were now to apologize and he followed the group, his head hanging low with shame, watching his sister being consoled.

Hermione was sitting on the sand, Rose in her lap as Hermione peeled an orange for her. "Don't get sand all over it, alright?"

Draco, however, glared at Dom as he started walking closer. "Maybe you should have went home and slept instead of ruining everyone's fun." Draco said, passing his wife a bottle of water so she could hopefully calm down faster in the heat.

"It's ok, mum. It was just water. You're ok." Scorpius kissed his mother's cheek once and hugged her.

Isabella shook her head, wrapping her arms around her legs, her sad and distraught eyes meeting Dom's.

"I'm-"

"Just go away Dom." She managed to speak through choppy breaths.

"Segarsi." Tyler spat, throwing daggers at the man whom he had just enjoyed a frolic in the surf.

Dominic took Tyler's response as answer enough and quickly disapparated.

"What the hell was that even about?" Draco asked, looking between Izzy and Hermione. Hermione gave him a small smile, Rose still sitting in her lap, shoving pieces of her orange into her mouth as Hugo walked over, extending his hand towards the orange.

"Uncle Dom was cranky." Sophia said, nodding her head at her dad. "He needs to go in time out."

"He will, Sophia, don't worry." Draco assured her, putting a comforting hand on Izzy's back.

"It's our fault." Tyler spoke up; waiting to meet his fate with his father. "We tripped him and I guess, he got mad and took it out on mum. Punish me, dad. It's my fault."

"Dad, I'll go home with mum and keep her company." Scor offered, looking as guilty as Tyler did, not letting go of his shaking mother.

"So much for a nice, quiet day at the beach." Caroline sighed; her husband wrapping an arm around her; not even bothering to crack a dirty joke in this scenario.

"It's alright, guys. Uncle Dom just had a rough night is all." He stood up. "Why don't we all head home? We can make some lunch and play in the yard instead, alright?" They all looked slightly disappointed, so Draco let out a sigh. "I'll even transform and take you guys for a fly. How's that sound?"

"Yeah!" They all yelled, jumping now with excitement.

"We'll just go home. I'm in need of a shower anyways." Caroline dismissed herself and Blaise. "Let us know if she feels worse, Draco." She whispered, saying their goodbye's and disappearating as well.


End file.
